The Supreme Beings of Life and Death

by Ashkar

What if Ainz was joined in the NW by the 41st and final member of AOG? He is still the Ruler of Death but a different race/build. How will Ainz deal with being an Angel of Death in this new world that fears heteromorphs? Will Taylar, the Angel of Life, be able to balance everything out? And why is Taylar so attached to Albedo? kind of canon, with my own twists and additions

17. The Invaders Of The Great Tomb

Disclaimer: I do not own anything (except my OC)

"Talking"

'Thinking'

{Message}

(Telepathy)

*SPELL/ABILITY/MARTIAL ART*

*[METAMAGIC]*

A/N: To make up for being almost two weeks behind schedule on my release I give you a 28K word chapter for your enjoyment... I also wanted to say thanks to everyone for reading my story... we went over 100k views right before I posted chapter 16 and last time I checked about a week ago, it was over 115k, and now we are closing in on 700 followers and 600 favorites! like I said, thanks for everyone who kept up with my story and I'm glad to see you keep coming back for new chapters! I really appreciate those who are still reading after having to wait a month or more per chapter. Unfortunately, my new four-day schedule at work is still nowhere in sight and I am back to working six days a week so that is the reason for the delay. Once again, thanks for coming back for more and now, let's get to the review replies...

Guests: I have noticed that people who like to leave hateful reviews only do so when they can post as an anonymous guest so no one can reply... well, I'll keep deleting your reviews until you have the balls to post one to an actual profile and not be a keyboard tough guy who hides behind an anonymous name... I see they are all about the same thing too... you don't like that I brought back the Swords of Darkness... I wonder though, have you ever actually read Overlord? You say good people die for a reason, and you will see in this chapter that indeed I do kill people... However, Swords of Darkness deaths in Overlord truly served no purpose... Ainz even says their deaths are a waste in the LNs (To the person who said Shalltear was one of the good guys who needed to die... You do know that Ainz and everyone from Nazarick are the bad guys right?)... so if you don't like the way I go about telling my version of Overlord, it is quite simple... DON'T READ MY STORY! I read a lot of fanfics I don't like... I don't comment on how terrible they are or run my mouth about the writer, I simply stop reading the story... everyone has their own way to go about their fanfiction writing... I read a lot of GoT fanfics and they are all angsty as fucking hell... I need a little sunshine and rainbows in my fanfics so that is what you will get... I don't really care if you like it or not... read something else and move your hateful ass along... no one cares what you think, you are not special, and your opinion means less than shit to me so please, just fuck off and have a nice day :-)

pwashington: I'll certainly keep up the D&D references/spells/classes/etc but for the other stuff you asked for lol... you'll have to read falling to temptation or a similar story lmao... Obviously, I occasionally post a lemon but lust potions and bondage are going a little too far with this story

Overlord-addict: I'm sure you will enjoy this chapter based off your comments lol

T-B-R: a little more Albedo/Nazarick reaction at the beginning of this chapter... hope you like it

Thristan: Life is starting to get there... now instead of having to work 6 days a week, I only have to work 6 days a week once a month so it is starting to unwind a bit for me... thanks for the concern... the company I work for decided the only way to get rid of the overtime was to create a fourth shift that ran over the weekend plus Monday... I volunteered for it so when it starts, I'll only be working four days a week and will have more time to write.

gerend: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I thought making the dinner more detailed would make for a better chapter than cramming the dinner and invaders into one chapter... I had to pamper Enri a bit out of, honestly, pure bias lol... if it wasn't for Neia, Enri would be my favorite NW character (Renner being a close 3rd)... also, thanks again for the suggestion on how chapter 15 was broken up a little too much, I will probably have already done it by the time this chapter is posted but I edited chapters 15 and 16 because of your previous suggestion... so now Blue Roses' fate is at the end of chapter 15 and the scene with Shalltear is the start of chapter 16

DarkAeroSage: Good to see you liked the dinner like everyone else... still deciding on the whole Enri/Peter or Enri/Nfirea thing but you'll see moments in the next couple chapters where I work it out in the story instead of just in my head... it was meant to be in the last chapter but I got carried away with the dialogue for the dinner chapter so Invaders is this chapter and you can see what I did with the ideas we were talking about with Arche... hope you like what I decided on

Eltyr: You get to find out at the start of the chapter :-)

Spacemonkey777: The fun is never over with Albedo :-)

Callsigngod: Thanks for enjoying my story... I don't plan on Evileye joining anyone but Blue Rose but hey, you never know... I do like to do things differently so maybe I'll take you up on that someday

rmarcano321: Thanks for all the comments but you really only asked two questions so I'll answer them... Shi Empire yes... Shi means Death in Kanji that is why I picked that name since Sakura Empire I saw used in another fanfic was already taken... Why did I create Taylar? well, I wanted an OC for my Overlord fanfic... I wanted to change Ainz race to something that wasn't just a skeleton but keep him the Supreme Overlord of Death and I figured making basically his polar opposite as a female would be a good idea... it also helps that my dorky ass has been playing a cleric in D&D since I was a teenager and I'm now in my thirties so I have a good idea what a healer type is capable of so it makes spell casting, abilities, skills, etc easy to think up

Warflower: In-game her name is Taylar (one of many french words for angel according to the internet lol) IRL her name was Meiko figured it was appropriate to name her that since her class in Yggdrasil was a Miko Priestess

Anagennisi: You have no idea how bad I want to just skip straight to Neia lol... but unfortunately, things must be set in motion beforehand to make aiding the Holy Kingdom an option for those of Nazarick aka they have to be their last resort so I need to wait on that no matter how much I don't want to... I doubt it will be as long as it is in the light novels but I haven't gotten that far yet so we will see

GreenEggandHam: I'm glad you are liking my fanfic... This answer will be, quite frankly, disappointing but I just wanted to get the relationship over with at the start... there will be others but it will take much longer so something to look forward too I suppose lol... I doubt I'll be any good at building it up... I'm not exactly the romantic type but I'll give it a shot... I also read a ton of fanfics on AO3... more than I do on fanfic net but as someone who posts stories, fanfiction is the easiest to use in my opinion... I also post this on AO3 and Wattpad but it is usually a couple of days after I do it on fanfiction because it is a pain in the ass... it isn't uploading a doc or simply copy and paste like fanfiction is... thanks for reading though no matter on what site!

Next chapter time!

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Royal Suite, 10th Floor, Nazarick...

Ainz had just teleported from the dining room to outside their bedroom so he could change out of his current attire. As he made his way into the bedroom he couldn't help but think that dinner had gone very well.

He had convinced Nfirea that it was pointless to try and sell the newly created potion since he could not find the necessary ingredients unless they were given to him by Ainz. Taylar had done a pretty thorough job of convincing Enri that she was very suited for the task of running a city instead of a village. And Nemu, well, Ainz enjoyed her company probably the most.

Children were unfiltered and she wasn't intimidated by him in the least. Not to mention it seemed Aureole took a liking to Enri. It would be great for her to have a genuine friend since everyone in Nazarick treated her like a princess or the heir of Nazarick.

And not that he cared much but Taylar's plan to introduce Enri to Peter had seemed to go off without a hitch also. He wasn't too concerned with that aspect of the dinner because he still wasn't quite sure what Taylar was doing with all these New Worlder's that she had been advising, helping, or pushing in a certain direction.

He wondered if she was simply doing it because she wanted to see how powerful a child would be if Enri and Peter happened to go that route or if she really was just hoping for Enri to find love somewhere in this world. She was pretty adamant about taking on her new role as the Goddess of Love.

Ainz, just like Taylar, was not one for religion, but in this New World, it seemed as though they were going to be looked at as gods regardless of how many times they denied they were such. It led them to have a very interesting conversation about it, and they decided it was a great way to not only spread their names but also to get people of this world to follow them without having to lift so much as a finger.

It seemed Taylar was wholeheartedly committed to this and was starting to get into really being a Goddess in the eyes of the people of this world. It was quite easy for Albedo to slip into the Goddess role everyone has claimed her to be. The Goddess of Beauty and Desire was a pretty simple one by Ainz' account. All Albedo had to do was remain beautiful and desirable. That was certainly going to be an easy task for her. All anyone had to do was lay eyes on her and she would live up to her new titles.

He certainly had no problem with what they were doing now, but if anyone thought they would lay a hand on his two Goddesses he would certainly teach them through immense amounts of pain that no one was allowed to touch them not named Ainz.

Ainz God role was going to be pretty simple. They styled Ainz as the God of Death, all he had to do was kill and he would be fulfilling his duties as a god. He was pretty excited about that. Nothing complicated to do for him just do what he does best and he would live up to his titles. He should probably try and add another title to that just as Taylar and Albedo had two. He knew it would be easy to be the God of Death but he really didn't want to be remembered just as the guy who killed everyone.

Ainz was finally out of those blasted clothes and had just started putting on more comfortable clothes when he heard the door open. He figured it had to be Taylar and Albedo since no one else would enter this room without knocking first. He was quite excited to gawk at them in their dresses without children being around so he could fully appreciate what they both wore tonight.

As he turned his head towards the door, he saw a streak of black then all of a sudden, he was staring up at the ceiling. He had no idea what had just happened but something was holding him down and damn near crushing his ribs. If he wasn't a level 100, he was sure he would have probably been squeezed into a pancake with how hard someone was doing it right now.

He managed to look down at his chest to see what was going on right now. He caught a glimpse of Taylar standing just inside the door as she closed it with a smile on her face. The quick look he got of her just confirmed that the dress she was wearing should be considered a lethal weapon. If it wasn't for his curiosity to figure out who was squeezing him to death he probably would have never taken his eyes off of Taylar.

When he finally did look down, what he figured happened was exactly what did happen. Albedo had burst into the room and tackled him onto the bed in a bone-crushing hug. He was pretty sure that was what happened to begin with but this made it pretty obvious. Albedo had been very good at controlling her emotional outbursts since Ainz and Taylar had brought her into this relationship but it seemed whatever they had talked about had sent Albedo's emotions into overdrive.

He wrapped his arms around Albedo to hug her back and was about to ask Taylar what had gotten into her when he noticed Albedo was crying. She wasn't doing it audibly. There was no sobbing, sniffling, or choked back tears but they were streaming down her beautiful face all the same. It made him a little worried because there wasn't anything he could possibly think of that would make Albedo cry like this.

"Albedo, what's wrong love? Why are you crying?" Ainz asks her

"I-I-I-I..." that is all Albedo can get out at the moment so Ainz looks at Taylar.

"Taylar... what's going on with Albedo?" he asks her

"I would love to tell you but I think Albedo should be the one to tell you." Taylar says to him

Albedo finally collects herself enough to stop crushing Ainz in her hug and sits up straddling his waist. She still hasn't said anything and is just staring down at Ainz. She still has tears streaming down her face and the look she is giving Ainz is one of nothing but true loving devotion. Taylar comes up from behind Albedo and straddles Ainz' legs so she is looking over Albedo's shoulder right down at Ainz.

"Go on, tell him why you are so happy Albedo." Taylar says to her

"I'M PREGNANT!" Albedo shouts as she can't contain it anymore and has trouble controlling the level of her voice with how much excitement is running through her right now.

As the words sink into Ainz brain a smile stretches over his face from ear to ear. He sits up and wraps his arms around Albedo and Taylar and hugs them both. He realizes what he is doing and quickly drops his arms down to his side and looks at Albedo with concern on his face.

"Did I just squeeze too hard? I didn't hurt the baby did I? Shouldn't you be lying down? Do you need anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Need a blanket? Are you sic..." Taylar has finally had enough of his rambling and cuts him off.

"Ainz! Albedo isn't some porcelain doll. She is not going to break if you hug her. You are already acting like an overprotective dotting father and you just found out. I'm sure if she needs something she will let us know. How about we enjoy this before you start being the concerned daddy?" she tells him in a not so loving tone.

"Of course, sorry, it is just... well..."

"We know..." Albedo says to him as she covers her stomach with both her hands. "and it's babies, my love. Taylar said it is going to be twins." Albedo finishes with the beaming smile that hasn't left her face since Taylar told her.

Ainz giant smile returns to his face. "You are right. We should celebrate. I'll have everyone gather in the throne room and announce it to them. I will get Yuri Alpha to be your midwife. I know Yamaiko created her with those skills then we can..."

"Ainz!" Taylar yells at him and snaps him out of his rambling. "What did I just say! We can worry about everyone in Nazarick tomorrow. We..." Taylar motions between the three of them. "are going to celebrate tonight. Considering the occasion, I think we should let Albedo pick the positions tonight." Taylar smirks as she finishes.

"Hold that thought!" Ainz says quickly as he sees Albedo and Taylar start whispering to each other with mischievous smiles on their faces.

{Demiurge.}

{How can I be of service Lord Ainz?}

{I need you to gather all of Nazarick in the throne room at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.}

{Of course Lord Ainz. If all of Nazarick is to be there should I leave no security at all?}

{I will give you... "What? How am I even supposed to hold that position?... What do you mean that is what wings are for?" I'll give you command of 100 of my created Death Knights for security and their commander.}

{O-Of course Lord Ainz.}

{"Wait! You want to try what?!" Ummm, Demiurge make that 9:00 a.m.}

{As you command Lord Ai-} and the message abruptly ends.

It was morning time in Nazarick as Ainz stood at the foot of the bed. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the magnificent sight before him. The only time in the last fifteen minutes he looked away was when he took a picture with the command console and walked over to transfer it to one of the picture frames on one of the nightstands beside the bed.

Inside Nazarick, Ainz could still take photos and videos using the command console but as soon as he left Nazarick, the console would disappear and he couldn't access it at all. He was hoping to take pictures and videos of the outside world and show it to those inside Nazarick who had never been outside yet.

Most of them had no idea about the outside world except what was told to them by the few who had ventured out so far. He also figured out that was why he thought Increment was so smitten with Peter. He thought she had genuine feelings for him but realized it was actually excitement. Peter would tell her any story he could remember from the outside world when he was traveling as an adventurer.

Ainz snaps back to reality at what he is looking at. Albedo and Taylar are still sleeping in bed, not a single inch of clothing on either of them. His male ego will certainly take credit for them being so exhausted this morning.

Albedo is laying on her back with Taylar snuggled right up on her left side. The covers were pulled up to their waists, Taylar's left hand is protectively laying over Albedo's stomach, and Albedo's right hand is laying over top of Taylar's.

Ainz has already contemplated casting Time Stop repeatedly until he ran out of MP wondering how long he could make this last for, but he ultimately decided against it. He just resigned himself to wait until they woke up on their own.

He got twenty minutes of staring at them like a love-struck fool protagonist in a romance story before they started to stir. He noticed the furrowing of their brows, the change in their breathing, their eyes fluttering, and the small twitches he now knew as the telltale signs they were about to wake up.

He moved his way gently onto the bed and made his way towards both of them. He first kissed the back of Albedo's hand that was resting on Taylar's. He then moved up and kissed Taylar on her forehead then finally, made his way to Albedo and did the same to her. When he looked down after the final kiss, he saw Taylar and Albedo looking up at him smiling.

"I'm glad you two are finally awake. I was starting to lose the battle within myself to freeze time at the sight of you two." he says.

He smiles at both of them and looks down at their overlapping hands. Taylar starts to move her hand and Ainz is about to frown, but his worry is all for naught. Taylar moves her hand but simply intertwined her fingers with Albedo's and rests them back on her stomach.

Ainz was joyful that Taylar seemed just as happy, if not more so, at this revelation as he was. He thought she might be a little upset since Albedo was pregnant and she wasn't, but he remembered what she said when he asked her about it.

"No I'm not upset, I'm as happy as you are. I can't really explain it but I think I'm not pregnant because I'm not ready yet. There is much we have to do and we have plenty of time for all of that. It is even better now because we both get to experience it but I don't have to get fat yet." she giggles for a moment before continuing. "I think as soon as I'm ready, it will happen for me."

"I'm glad Taylar. I was a little worried, to be honest." Ainz said to her

"Don't be, my love. I will love any children you have with Albedo as my own. I will love them just like I do Aureole or any other children we may have in the future. We are all in this together." she replied

Taylar grabs Ainz right hand and puts it over top of their intertwined fingers to snap him out of his flashback. He can't help the ear to ear grin that escapes every time he looks at the scene. He really doesn't want to leave this room or this moment, but duty calls. Well, informing Nazarick of this new development is first on the agenda for the day, then it is time for duty.

"I'd love to stay here all day but it is time to get ready to let everyone in Nazarick know of our good news. I also have to inform some of them of their new roles because of this development." Ainz tells them

"And what new roles do you speak of, my love?" Albedo asks him

"You are getting a midwife of course." Ainz tells her

"You know I don't need one, my love. At least, not right now anyhow." she tells him

"Oh you do, and we have the perfect person to fill that role. All I have to do now is figure out how to get her integrated into The Forsaken so she can come with us when we take on our adventurer persona's." Albedo is about to protest again but Ainz stops her with a hand and continues.

"There is no room for argument here Albedo. If you don't want me to be so overprotective then allow me this. If I know you have someone with you at all times who knows what to look for if something goes wrong, I will not be as overbearing. Well, I'll try to lessen it a little, I promise." he finishes with a little grin.

"Just let him have this Albedo. You know our Momonga will be incredibly annoying to you, asking if you are alright every ten seconds if you don't give him this." Taylar says to Albedo.

"Fine." Albedo relents and smiles at Ainz. "But I need a proper good morning kiss. My lips desperately need the attention."

Ainz has no problem giving in to her request and gives Albedo a proper good morning kiss. Well, he intended to but Albedo was not exactly content with a peck on the lips and quickly trapped him with her tongue in his mouth. When he finally did get to breathe, Taylar wanted the same attention and he had to end it before he wanted to before this got more heated and led to them being late, yet again.

When they finally got ready and arrived at the Throne Room, it was packed to almost capacity. The only places where there wasn't a being of Nazarick placed was the carpet leading to the thrones and the area in front where he called those he wanted to speak to directly. He even spotted the Swords of Darkness, Tsuare, and Shalltear's favorite new pet, a still dominated Brain Unglaus.

He regally made his way to his throne as he always did with both of his Queens at his side. Taylar had the same smile she always wore on her face, but Albedo was a different story. She hadn't stopped beaming since last night, and he doubted that would change any time soon.

Once Ainz, Taylar, and Albedo had taken their seats, Ainz was going to call for silence, but that was apparently unnecessary. The entire Throne Room was silent waiting for him to speak. Everyone wondered why Lord Ainz had called them here, but large gatherings to let everyone know the future of Nazarick were becoming quite frequent lately. They all just assumed it was another layer that was going to be added to the supreme one's plans.

"Thank you all for gathering here on such short notice. As you are aware, we will be leaving for the Baharuth Empire tomorrow to escort the invaders to Nazarick." these words earned scowls and angry looks all around the room. "Believe me, I feel the same as all of you do, but we must use this opportunity to not only test our defenses but also give us the means to begin our conquest of this world. I won't bore all of you with what a casus belli is or why we aren't simply crushing everyone under our boot, just know that this is the way things need to be done in this world for now."

Ainz pauses for a moment and takes a look at the crowd. He sees looks of either understanding or bewilderment staring back at him. He was now very glad he didn't need to explain casus belli to Nazarick for that would take too long, and he had much more important information to tell them anyway so he got back to it.

"The reason for us being here this morning is for an announcement I wish for all of you to hear from me, well us." he motions to Albedo and Taylar. "Before we get to that though, there is something else we must take care of. Sebas, Yuri, and Pestonya please come forward."

All three of them step forward, Sebas and Yuri from where the Pleiades are located and Pestonya from the head of the homunculi maids. They all arrive at the base of the throne at the same time and kneel before Ainz.

"How may we serve you, Lord Ainz." the say in unison

It still unnerved him a little with how programmed most of the NPCs still acted. Perfect unison like that was nothing but their settings. He had noticed Taylar was very right when she said they needed to spend more time with those from Nazarick.

He had only noticed three NPCs that were really starting to act outside their settings and it couldn't have been a coincidence that they were the three they interacted with the most. Albedo, Narberal Gamma, and Lupus Regina.

Albedo was obviously the one who had changed the most so far. She still had some spats with Shalltear here and there and demanded excellence from everyone who served Nazarick. The fact she actually took a liking to a human child was the most telling. He wasn't quite sure what the interest with Nemu was but he didn't mind it. He actually took quite a liking to her himself and just attributed it to her wanting to be a mother.

Narberal Gamma was another story altogether but she was much changed as well. While she didn't go as far as actually liking a human being as Albedo had, she at least interacted with the humans around her with less hatred. Instead of the murderous glare she shot every person who tried to interact with her not from Nazarick, she answered their questions even if the answers were short with a blank expression on her face. It was a huge step up in Ainz opinion from where she was when they arrived here.

Lupus Regina was also a completely different story than the first two but changed none the less. When Ainz found out the reason for her change in behavior he almost wanted to laugh. Lupus Regina was trying to grow to impress her hero, Taylar. She took an actual interest in Enri and Nemu since Taylar had made it pretty clear she was grooming the girl for something. He wondered what Lupus Regina's reaction would be if he told her Taylar thought she was as beautiful as Albedo. He was afraid her head might explode so he'd not be telling her that any time soon.

He didn't mention Yuri Alpha but it would be hard to tell if she changed much. She had spent a lot of time in E-Rantel selling potions to customers so she had a lot of interaction with those not from Nazarick. The problem was how she was created. Yuri was essentially the ultimate mother hen, she treated everyone with respect who deserved it regardless of race. It was simply the way Yamaiko created her so noticing changes with her was a lot more difficult than the other denizens of Nazarick.

"Rise." they all stand at Lord Ainz command. "Yuri Alpha, I know you have duties between the maids of Nazarick, the Pleiades, and the shop in E-Rantel. I want for you to inform Pestonya of all your duties in regards to the maids that maintain Nazarick, let Sebas know of your combat training with the Pleiades, and finally, we will let you know who will replace you at the shop in E-Rantel and wish for you to teach them all they will need to know to run the shop in your absence. You have one week until we deal with the Invaders to do this." Ainz states

The farther along Ainz got into his command the more Yuri's face fell. She had obviously done something to displease Lord Ainz if he was taking away all of her responsibilities. She wracked her brain hard to figure out where she had failed and disappointed Lord Ainz so greatly but nothing came to mind. She obviously can not think on the deep level her Lord can, and wished to ask of her failure but did not want to disappoint Lord Ainz again for not already realizing her mistake. She was so lost in thought, she almost missed the rest of what Lord Ainz said to her.

"Do not think of this as some sort of punishment, Yuri. You have been a great asset to Nazarick and have done more than needed for your position. You will still have time to train the Pleiades and oversee some of the duties in Nazarick, but I have a much more important job for you. I want it to be your first priority, all your other duties will come second to this one. Do you understand?" Ainz asks her

"Of course, Lord Ainz. I will do my utmost to not disappoint you in any way! What shall my new duties be, my lord?" Yuri says to him

"Your new duties are the reason for this meeting with all of Nazarick present, and the announcement Albedo, Taylar, and I wish to share with all of you." Ainz says as he sweeps his hand across the crowd to show he means everyone. "You shall be Albedo's midwife for the duration of her pregnancy." Ainz finishes abruptly.

The Throne Room goes dead silent at Lord Ainz statement and no one makes a sound as they digest what the supreme being just said to them. It doesn't take very long for the words to sink in, and quickly everyone in the Throne Room starts cheering loudly in their own way.

Dragons are hopping from foot to foot almost dancing while they roar at the sky, the homunculi maids are all on the verge of tears, the floor guardians and the Pleiades are cheering loudly and smiling, and he even thinks some of his created undead are trying to smile a bit at the news of Nazarick gaining more members of the royal family. Everyone looked particularly happy at the news everywhere he looked. Shalltear didn't look as excited as everyone else but she was smiling anyway.

Ainz sees the question form in Yuri's eyes before she even thinks to ask it. For he also had the same worries when he was told after his initial happiness wore off. He wanted Yuri to ask her question so everyone in Nazarick would know and realize how unlikely this was.

"Lord Ainz, I am completely overjoyed for your faith in me to look after Lady Albedo and your future child, but..." Yuri trails off and Ainz wants her to continue so he finishes for her.

"But... you were given the knowledge of how to be a midwife by Yamaiko to every race she could imprint on you but never for a Succubus because a Succubus cannot bear a child as a human, elf, or angel would? Is that what you mean to ask Yuri?"

"Y-Y-Yes, my lord." she says hesitantly

"Your hesitation is well-founded Yuri, for I have the same knowledge you possess. But you must remember that what you were taught was what we knew of the universes we visited. This is a brand new place and anything seems possible here. Myself, Taylar, and the other supreme beings all thought you would be as we created for as long as you existed, but that is not the case in this universe."

He looks at everyone in the Throne Room as he pauses so they all think about what he is about to say.

"Narberal Gamma has not only learned to interact with humans on a respectable level but also has grown as a caster and learned tier 8 magic. Something we didn't think possible before. The homunculi maids have not only become even more stellar maids then they were but have also started to learn to defend themselves. There are many other examples but you see my point." he looks around to make sure everyone is still drinking in all his words to them.

"In this world, anything is possible it seems, and there is no one more qualified to oversee the first natural birth ever by a Succubus than you, Yuri. Also, never forget, Albedo is no normal Succubus from the Abyss. She is the Demon Queen of Nazarick and Guardian Overseer. Almost all of Nazarick is present in this room right now and there is maybe, what, three or four of you who could hope to defeat her in combat?"

'Taylar made me say that last line! I'd lock Albedo up in Nazarick if she would let me!' he thinks but would never actually say out loud.

"You shall join us in our adventurer party The Forsaken when we need use of it. It should not be many times after the Invaders so it won't take up too much of your time but I would like you to be with Albedo almost always so you can apply your knowledge to what she will experience. It should be good practice for the future." Ainz finishes with a glance at Albedo and Taylar with a bright smirk on his face.

"I promise I will not fail you, your majesties!" Yuri proudly proclaims.

"We know you will not, Yuri. Now, tomorrow we leave for the Baharuth Empire, but tonight..." Ainz pauses for dramatic effect. "We celebrate!"

Loud cheers erupt once more and all of Nazarick celebrates the future their rulers would bring them. With Lord Ainz conquest of the world for Queen Taylar about to commence and Queen Albedo pregnant with more heirs for the royal family, the future of Nazarick was looking bright to everyone.

Baharuth Empire...

At this very moment, Ainz was regretting that speech he gave yesterday about how everyone can change in this new world. Right before him was a change he knew would lead to not only endless hours of him being a chaperone but also his gold pouch not weighing nearly enough.

The Forsaken currently found themselves in the North Market of Arwinter looking at different kinds of magic tools available here in the market. Taylar, Albedo, and even Narberal Gamma were happily shopping and looking at what seemed like every single item in the whole market.

When Ainz suggested they head to the market to check out the items only available here, he expected Taylar's smile. She would never turn down an opportunity to shop for items in a new country. Albedo's reaction was a little surprising but not a very big one. She was also very excited but it didn't surprise him all that much. She seemed to be liking more and more things that Taylar did.

What threw him for a loop was Narberal Gamma's reaction. When he looked for her reaction, he didn't expect what he saw. She lit up like a teenager going to the mall for the first time in their life. He knew for certain Narberal had no settings at all to be excited about shopping for anything. Nishikienrai, Narberal's creator, was one of Ainz closest friends and he knew just as much about her settings as he did Shalltear's and Pandora's Actor.

Thinking about his friend certainly dampened his mood. He knew for certain that he would be here with him if he had not gotten sick in the years prior to Yggdrasil shut down. After many hours talking with Taylar, he had finally realized that she was right. His past comrades had made their choices and they made theirs. There was no use looking back and being upset or sad about it.

Even if that is the case, he would forever remember Blue Planet and Nishikienrai. Those two had their choice taken away by their shit world when they got sick and had no choice but to leave Yggdrasil with the faint hope they could survive. Blue Planet had lost his battle years before but last he heard of Nishikienrai, he was still fighting to survive.

'If only he had been logged in when Yggdrasil shut down.' Ainz mentally sighs to himself. He just couldn't help but torture himself he supposed. He was the one person he wished was here with him and Taylar and he would be damn proud of Narberal.

Speaking of Narberal, she was currently examining something very intently. It looked as if she actually might want to buy something which was unusual for her.

'Well, let's see how addicted to shopping Taylar and Albedo have made Narberal.' Ainz thinks

Ainz made his way over to Narberal and took a look at what she was eyeing up. Narberal showed him all kinds of magic tools that reminded him of Nazarick and Earth. There were coolers and ones to also keep items hot, mugs that did the same, hairdryers, and all other kinds of appliance type items you would find on earth.

The big difference was all of these were powered by magic and not just a normal tier spell cast on an item, but runes that he learned were made by the dwarves that lived in the mountains not far from where Nazarick was.

He was very interested in rune-craft after talking with a number of merchants selling rune crafted items. Unfortunately for Ainz, he was so lost in thought about rune-craft that he didn't notice he was buying something from every merchant he talked to for Narberal, Albedo, and Taylar. It was even more surprising that Narberal had the most items with her.

Well, he was carrying everything but she had the most items. He had to endure another hour of shopping in the market before he convinced everyone else they needed to head back so they weren't late arriving at the Earl's estate for their escort/security job.

Baharuth Empire, Earl's estate...

Several worker teams had already gathered on the Earl's estate before dawn. The last team to arrive was Hekkeran's Foresight. In total, twenty-two people were present from five different worker groups. The workers gathered for this job were considered to be among the cream of the crop of their profession in the capital.

The worker teams maintained a distance between each other as they sized each other up. When the four members of Foresight finally arrived, they were welcomed by the collective stares of the other worker teams. This scene could almost be considered spectacular in its own way.

"Ah, somehow I feel like I've seen all these faces somewhere before. Such as Beetle over there, didn't I see him recently at the Katze Plains?" Imina says to the rest of the members

"Eh? Did I not mention this in the hotel? Gringham's team also accepted this request. Did I really not say this? Somehow I feel like I've said this before…" he trails off for a bit. "In any case, the worker teams that are gathered today all possess considerable fame within the capital! Let's have a round of applause for the deep pockets of the client." Hekkeran says to her

"I think I'll pass on that. Anyways, the ones over there are the team leaders, right?" she says to him and points.

In the area between the separated teams, four people had gathered in the center, exchanging information.

"Gringham should be over there, it seems. No doubt about it. Well then, time to go and greet them." Hekkeran says but before he can depart, Imina notices someone she wishes wasn't there.

"Urgh, that guy is also here? Ah, I see. Then, the elf girls over there are… Hmph, that guy is absolutely the worst. I hope you die, you fucking piece of shit." Imina practically spat that last sentence out.

Although she kept her voice down, it still worried Hekkeran and the others enough that they had to quickly check their surroundings to see if anyone else had noticed.

"Imina!" Roberdyck scolds, low enough for no one else to hear.

"I know, I know, Rob. He's going to be a colleague for this job. However, I really don't want to see that guy's face." she replies

"I don't like it either, Imina." Roberdyck says to her

"Well, if I had to pick between like and hate, I also hate him. Even so, you need to consider the situation we are in." Hekkeran says to both of them

"You are the one that has to talk to that piece of shit so you have fun with that." Imina says to him turning to talk to Arche before she can be scolded again. Hekkeran just shrugs his shoulders and walks over to greet the other team leaders.

As he made his way to the circle of leaders, presumably swapping information about the job they have learned so far, he noticed Parpatra Ogrion; the leader of Dragon Hunt, Gringham; the leader of Heavy Masher, Dryzex; leader of Merciless Onslaught, and the aforementioned piece of shit Erya Uzruth; leader of Tenmu.

When he arrived it was just as he expected. They were exchanging what information they had already obtained for the upcoming mission. However, it quickly turned into everyone changing topics to information exchange on who was the strongest warriors everyone knew once Uzruth had left the area.

Hekkeran soon realized there were a lot of strong warriors even he still didn't know about. Apparently, the one most talked about by the others was someone named Brain Unglaus. A man who had only lost to the Re-Estize Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff in the finals of the tournament they were talking about.

What he was having trouble believing was Gringham claiming that Uzruth would defeat Brain Unglaus if he still held the same level of skill as when Gringham had seen him in the tournament. He was probably having trouble accepting it because of his borderline hatred of the man, but with so many vouching for his skill, he couldn't really do anything but grudgingly accept that they were telling the truth. He was completely lost in thought and almost missed another big piece of information.

"Oh that's right, has everyone heard? The Re-Estize Kingdom now has its third adamantite ranked adventurer team?" Parpatra says to everyone.

"Of course I have heard, elder." Gringham says to him.

"Sorry, I haven't heard." Hekkeran had to reply. He had not heard of a third adamantite ranked adventurer team in the Re-Estize Kingdom yet.

"Geez Hekkeran. Your ignorance could bring much harm to your team." the elder replies in almost a scolding way.

"I know that. However, it is difficult to gather information on adventurer teams from within the Re-Estize Kingdom, and quite honestly, it is a waste of money for us." Hekkeran tells the elder.

"Ha ha ha, I can somewhat agree with that." the elder laughs.

"Elder, I was hoping to hear your opinion on the matter of Momon from The Forsaken. I've heard a lot of rumors, but some of them are ridiculously outrageous. Like defeating a Giant Basilisk, Cockatrice, and Monstrous Centipede with only four people. That can't really be true can it?" Gringham asks Parpatra.

"I have heard similar outrageous things. I heard he defeated a difficulty rating of over 200 vampire in a single blow. It seems to me though that it might be just the Re-Estize Kingdom Adventurer Guild spreading rumors to gain their new adamantite adventurer team more recognition." Parpatra says to them

"I suppose that is possible, but would the guild really do something like that? I thought they were really strict about giving out false information like that?" Hekkeran says in response.

"Well, it is really based on the Guild master in that certain city. The Guild master who was in charge of my city when I was an adventurer was the absolute worst! I ended up punching him right in the face. I've been a worker ever since then ha ha ha." Parpatra finishes with a laugh.

The story of how Parpatra became a worker was extremely well known. It might be so well known that every worker in the entire empire probably knows the story by now. He talked a lot about it, especially when he got drunk.

"Having said all that, I don't think the guild would lie to that extent." Parpatra says

"So, you think the rumors are true then?" Hekkeran asks him

"It is still hard to believe. Trying to wrap my head around someone defeating a being of difficulty rating 200 in one blow is difficult. I think it is more likely just an exaggeration. The vampire was probably defeated but by more than one blow. It has probably turned into that kind of story as it was passed around and exaggerated from person to person." Parpatra says to them.

"That certainly sounds plausible, elder." Gringham says in response.

"Well, seeing in person beats hearing a hundred tales of exaggeration. I hope to meet him at least once so I can see if the rumors are true or not." Hekkeran says to them

Just as they were about to finish their conversation and head back to their respective teams, the sound of someone getting hit and the cries of a woman interrupted their departure. All the workers turned their attention to the source of the cries, some with their weapons already drawn and entering into their battle mode.

The source of the noise was from the direction Uzruth had left towards earlier. One of his female companions was laying on the ground trying to hold back her cries from obviously being struck. She was begging his forgiveness while he had a look of rage on his face.

Hekkeran was holding himself back from attacking the bastard, but his mind quickly went to Imina to make sure she wasn't doing anything foolish right now. He looked over and made sure to make eye contact with Roberdyck and Arche, letting them know not to let Imina do anything stupid. He personally wanted to do what he was sure Imina was thinking, but this was not the time or place for that. No matter how much he despised the man, he couldn't meddle in the affairs of other worker teams.

Once he had finally completely masked his disgust, they were trying to decide on who would lead the mission since there were five different worker teams for the same mission. After a few back and forths, it was decided that everyone would take turns leading the mission. They had decided also to skip Uzruth's turn as a leader since he obviously wasn't capable of leading anyone.

Right as he was about to make his way back to his team, the Earl's butler appeared. He walked towards them with his back straight, posture near perfect, and a somewhat noble air around him. He stopped in view of all the workers and gave a bow before speaking to them.

"The time for others to join us has finally come to an end. On behalf of the Earl, I would like to express his gratitude to everyone here who has accepted our request. There will be representatives from our house who will be coming along for the trip. Including adventurers hired for the security of the carriages and camps. The destination is an unexplored tomb near the border of the Re-Estize Kingdom. The requested mission length will be a three-day investigation. Additional bonuses will be given out after the Earl has confirmed the received goods from the ruin. Does anyone have any questions?" the old butler asks them at the end.

The only real new information they had heard from the butler was that there would be adventurers guarding their carriages and camps. Many of them were interested in the route they were taking to the tomb but the questions were few because workers learned quickly what was a good idea to ask and what wasn't.

If this mission was something the Earl planned on announcing then he would have hired adventurers and not workers. Some things were better just not knowing right now and so the questions they asked were very limited.

"Well then, if there are no more questions, I will lead everyone to the carriages." the butler says to them.

As they made their way towards the carriages, they noticed that three had been prepared for their journey, but that wasn't what drew their attention and neither was the gold plated adventurers going about their job loading the carriages. No, what surprised them was the horses that would be pulling the carriages.

"Sleipnirs?!" a few of the workers whispered amazed by the sight of the horses.

The horses had four pairs of legs and were much larger in size than a normal horse. They were also incredibly expensive and the cost of one Sleipnir was about as much as five warhorses. Most nobles could barely afford one Sleipnir and each carriage was being pulled by two. It made the workers appreciate the effort the Earl was putting forward for this mission.

After Hekkeran admired the Sleipnir's, he was about to make his way towards Gringham to ask if he could get in the carriage with Tenmu. Hekkeran doubted that his team, Foresight, could sit in a carriage the whole time with Uzruth and not kill him at some point along the journey. Unfortunately, before he could make it to him to ask, the aforementioned jackass was heard running his mouth again.

"Can we really rely on gold-ranked adventurers? What if the campsite gets overrun before we get back? What if monsters breach the security perimeter of the campsite?" Uzruth mouths off before everyone.

The atmosphere in the area went completely silent as he finished. Even the adventurers carrying luggage stopped in their tracks and looked at the man. The profession of an adventurer was a highly competitive one. To have someone doubt your ability could heavily impact your future career, especially if it was the one who commissioned you. If someone was bold enough to say these words, they had to be powerful enough to back them up. Uzruth didn't seem to think he was out of line at all so he continued on.

"I have to admit they are at least good enough to be luggage carrying lackeys, but when it comes to keeping everything safe, I'm not so sure about that." he finishes

All of the workers present were the cream of the crop in the Baharuth Empire. As such, they were all considered platinum rank or higher so obviously stronger than a group of gold-ranked adventurers. However, there were certain things you just shouldn't say and what he was running his mouth about was one of those things. They all had the same mental thought even if they didn't know it.

'Can someone please beat his ass and shut him up?' No one said it but everyone thought it at the same time.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, someone finally spoke up, but it wasn't one of the workers or adventurers. No, it was the old butler who finally said something.

"You must be Lord Uzruth. I do not believe there will be any problems with security."

"Are you saying that because you expect us to help with security? If so then I understand why you are not concerned." Uzruth says to the butler.

"That isn't it at all. You see, we hired people stronger than all of you for security so rest assured, there will be no issues." the butler calmly replies to the jackass.

"Stronger than me? Now this, I would like to see." Uzruth says

"Then I shall introduce them to put all your minds at ease. Allow me to present Lord Momon and the Ladies Ariel, Bella, and Nabe of the adamantite adventurer team The Forsaken." the butler says in a clear voice for all to hear.

Most of the workers had just been discussing the new adamantite adventurer team The Forsaken, Momon in particular. After the butler's announcement, a quiet buzz started amongst the worker groups and one of the doors to the carriages opened up as it started to get louder which instantly made everyone go quiet.

The anticipation and excitement of standing in the presence of someone who had reached the pinnacle of what it meant to be an adventurer had everyone almost leaning forward to catch a glimpse of such a team. As soon as the first figure made his way out of the carriage there was such an intake of breath from everyone present it almost caused the wind to shift directions.

The first to step out was a man clad head to toe in black full plate armor. He had two large greatswords across his back. He looked more like a giant than a man as he stood nearly seven feet tall. No one could tell what he looked like at all, there was not a single inch of him not covered by armor. It made him a little mysterious to all the workers present.

The second out was a woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She wore an outfit none had ever seen before save for one of the workers. There were two short swords secured in the small of her back that stuck out to each side for her to easily grab either one of them with either hand. To say she was beautiful would be an understatement. Most workers had at least been in the presence of a Queen or Princess who was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world but they all paled in comparison to the woman who stepped out.

The third woman out was clad in full plate as well. She was not wearing a helmet as Momon was and her armor was a bright white color. The complete opposite of Momon's black appearance. There was a shield strapped to her back and the handle of what looked like a mace or other similar weapon sticking up from behind her. Her jet black hair and blue eyes were just as alluring as the first woman's and she was just as beautiful.

Last out of the carriage was the final member of The Forsaken. She had on what looked to be regular style pants and a shirt underneath a long flowing cloak. There was a sword fastened on her hip but you could only see the pommel because the rest was hidden by the cloak. She had black hair pulled back in a ponytail and black eyes. Just like the previous two women she could be considered a world-class beauty.

As they all finally made their way out of the carriage, the workers remained silent. Momon exchange some words with one of the gold-ranked adventurers about security then all four members turned their gazes on the workers. You could not see Momon's eyes looking at each of them like you could the women in the team, but you could almost feel him as he looked you over.

Each member seemed so sure of themselves and powerful, you could almost feel the aura they were exuding. It would be natural to dislike people like this or at least be a little jealous. So confident it was almost cocky, projecting power thought almost unobtainable, and completely aware of how powerful they were.

But they all seemed like someone you just wanted to be around. The complete opposite of that jackass Uzruth. After they looked the crowd over, Momon finally said something and his voice sounded majestic even if the question had an obvious answer.

"Before you ask your questions, I would like to ask one of my own. Unlike adventurers who can sometimes be forced to do a job by the guild, you always get to choose if you want to accept a request or not. So my question is, why have you decided to enter an unknown tomb and more than likely unknown peril?"

All the workers started glancing at each other. They were not trying to make up their minds, the answer was obvious to everyone. What they were trying to figure out was who was suppose to address this legendary warrior. Finally, someone from Dragon Hunt just blurted out what they were all thinking.

"It's obviously because of the money."

"I see... so I truly asked a pointless question. Forgive me for asking." Momon replies

"What you asked wasn't particularly offensive so please don't mind it. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Gringham says

"That was the only question I had so please, ask what you wish." Momon replies

"Would you accept this job if it was asked of you?" Gringham asks him

"Based on the information I have been given, I would pass." Momon tells him

"Can I ask why?" a worker shouts from the crowd.

Momon turns his head towards the voice and locks eyes with the person who asked the question. He doesn't mean to do it on purpose but the man starts to shrink back in discomfort as he feels Momon's gaze lingering on him.

"As I said, it's based on the information I had. I'd have to weigh the pros and cons to see if I thought it was worth the risk. I'd personally pass." he replies after a moment, staring at them as if the answer was obvious, and as he did, truly asked a pointless question.

"Do you mind if this old man asks you a question?" Parpatra asks him.

"Please go ahead, senior." Momon tells the old man.

"I've heard many rumors about you. This old man wishes to find out if they are true or not." Parpatra says to Momon.

"I understand. Seeing something in person beats hearing a hundred tales. How exactly would you like to accomplish that?" Momon asks him

"Obviously, a spar." Parpatra says

"Against?" Momon asks

"I proposed it, so me of course." he says to him

"Are you wearing an item that conceals your power?" Momon asks him

"I am not." Parpatra answers kind of perplexed. He had been adventuring for a long time now and he had never heard of such an item.

"I mean no disrespect senior, but... based on your power and gear, I don't think that would be a good idea. I might not be able to hold back properly and kill you by accident." Momon replies

"As expected of adamantite rank! This old man has decided it would be worth the risk." Parpatra says to him

"While I appreciate your willingness, how about a compromise? I heard people earlier talking about someone amongst you who could stand toe to toe with Gazef Stronoff. I have met the Warrior Captain and know he could withstand an attack or two from me, or at the very least, not die. Is there such a person here?" Momon asks.

He knows the man they are speaking of would get owned by Gazef. Uzruth was almost ten levels lower than Gazef which was disappointing since he was the strongest one here. None of these peoples corpses could be used to create high tier undead. He just wants to have a reason to kill this slaving, rapist and free those three women.

He was going to do it in Nazarick but Aureole's message had him change his plans. He couldn't be in two places at once no matter how fast he could teleport. He could just have Aureole delay teleport one of the groups he supposed but didn't want to leave these three around this guy any longer then he had to.

Every set of eyes in the place goes to Uzruth. Momon and the rest of The Forsaken wait until Parpatra moves his eyes towards the man so it seemed as if they didn't know who they were talking about earlier. As soon as Momon's gaze trailed over to him, he asked...

"Oh, is that you?" Momon asks Uzruth as he points at him.

No one is sure why they feel they know this but it was almost like Momon was frowning under his helmet in the way he asked that question. Uzruth didn't open his cocky mouth, he just nodded at Momon.

"Do you happen to have on an item like I described to senior?" he asks Uzruth.

"I've never heard of such an item. Why would I conceal my power?" Uzruth finally says

"Alright, well then, I don't think a spar is a good idea, senior. I can tell you, that man..." he points towards Uzruth. "would stand no chance against the Warrior Captain right now, and I don't want to accidentally kill him or you in a spar. Unless you just wish for me to dodge while you try to hit me?" Momon says to Parpatra.

Normally, if someone was running their mouth about how much stronger than you they were, most would feel like they did earlier when Uzruth was talking. However, coming from Momon, it just sounded like a fact instead of ego-boosting. The presence the man emitted was absolutely amazing and seemed to just persuade you on that alone.

Uzruth was just about fuming with rage. It was true that Momon had a decent presence about him and was very tall. He looked a little intimidating with his full plate on but he didn't sense any sort of power coming from him. All his talk of items that concealed your power seemed like a mummery of some sort to Uzruth.

"I think you are just scared I'll match you and your women won't want anything to do with you after we spar!" Uzruth states as Parpatra is about to answer Momon.

Momon just turns his gaze back to Uzruth and studies him for a moment. He is trying to figure out if this guy is really serious and he realizes that he actually believes what he is saying. This is the perfect opportunity to rid the world of this scum, and he plans on insulting him before the spar now just for an added bonus. As long as killing this guy won't affect the job and cost them some money.

"If you are truly willing to accept the risk then I have no problem sparring you. As for the women with me, they are free to choose whoever they like but I doubt I have to worry about losing them to someone who needs to buy his women." Momon finishes and points towards the three elves in Uzruth's party and chuckles a little along with everyone else.

"You're on!" Uzruth says obviously enraged now after that insult. Momon turns towards the butler who introduced them.

"If I do accidentally kill him, will it affect our job or payment?" he asks

"No Lord Momon, if he is willing to accept the risk then there is no fault on your part. He was given previous warning." the butler calmly states.

"Very well, how about we go over to that clearing." Momon points behind everyone. "I don't want to possibly damage the carriages or Sleipnir's."

Uzruth didn't say anything he just stomped over towards the clearing and everyone else followed quickly behind him. Before Momon can follow, Bella comes up next to him and whispers.

"Ainz, are you sure about this? We can just take him out in Nazarick and they won't be talking about how Momon of The Forsaken killed a human." Bella says to him

"You know they are slaves Taylar. I wanted to wait until Nazarick also but you heard him slap that girl earlier. I won't allow them to be around him for longer than they have to if I can help it." Momon whispers back

"This might just draw a little too much attention though, don't you think?" she replies

"No, I gave him ample warning, and if anything, it will just grow our reputation especially inside the Empire. We will still go forward with our plan to take the elves to Carne but we will just keep them in camp with us instead of rescuing them inside Nazarick." Momon tells her then starts walking towards the clearing for the sparring match. Bella just sighs, shrugs her shoulders, and follows behind with Ariel and Nabe.

As Momon walks into the clearing, he sees Uzruth there. It looks like he is already about to attack and it makes Momon laugh to himself. He is standing there with his hand on the hilt of his weapon, crouched in a fighting stance, and it looks like he wants to leap at him right now. Momon is very excited about ending this man and quickly takes his place opposite Uzruth.

Momon reaches back with his right hand and pulls out one of his greatswords. He doesn't pull out both but instead just lowers the one in his right hand with the tip pointing towards the ground. He has it angled slightly away from him so it doesn't touch the ground.

All of the workers around notice Momon's stance. It is almost like he is leaving himself wide open for attack. He doesn't look like a man about to spar. Instead, it looks like he is standing in line waiting for something not about to engage in a fight. They all see Uzruth crouch even lower and start activating a lot of martial arts at once.

*BOOST MARTIAL ARTS* *ABILITY BOOST* *GREATER ABILITY BOOST* *FLOW ACCELERATION* *SWIFT STRIKE* *SPRING ATTACK*

As he finishes saying his last martial art, he pushes off on his toes and springs towards Momon at an incredible speed. Uzruth is moving so fast it is hard for even the workers to keep up with his movements. He begins to draw his blade about ten feet from Momon and activates his martial art attack.

*VOID CUTT-*

He never finishes saying cutter. The ground almost erupts to Momon's right side in a line towards the front of him. His greatsword that was at his right side is now pointing up towards the sky almost in a salute in front of him. Uzruth just suddenly stops in his tracks about five feet in front of Momon. His katana is held out parallel to the ground and he is frozen in place. There isn't a single noise being made by anyone until everyone heard Momon say...

"Sorry, I thought you could handle that level of attack."

As he finishes saying that, a look of discomfort comes across Uzruth's face and a straight line stretching from his crotch all the way to the top of his head appears. It starts leaking red and Uzruth slumps forward in the grass.

Momon moves his greatsword to his side and flicks the blood off of it. He puts his weapon away and rolls Uzruth over on his back. He puts his fingers on his neck to check for a pulse and feels nothing. It didn't surprise him but he couldn't act like killing him was joyful even if it was.

He moved his hand over his face and closed his eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest while still holding his weapon. The man might be dressed like a samurai and be wielding a katana but he certainly didn't have the honor of one. He stands up after doing this and looks at the workers around him.

"Sorry if that was unpleasant for anyone. That was why I didn't want to spar. I trust there are no issues now with the security of the camp?" he asks everyone.

No one actually answered him with words, they all just shook their heads vigorously. After seeing this, Momon made his way over to where the three elf slaves were.

"I'm sure you didn't choose to be here. You are free to leave if you like or you could stay with this group until this mission is over and we can take you somewhere you will be safe if you like." Momon tells them.

They just look at him for a while. They don't look scared of him per se, they just look scared in general. Probably from the treatment they had been receiving for most of their lives. After a few moments, one of them finally spoke up.

"W-W-We wish to s-s-stay with y-y-you, my l-l-lord." the one with blue hair says

"You are welcome to stay, but the name is Momon and I'm no lord." he points over his shoulder "That is Bella, Ariel, and Nabe. They will show you to our carriage if you don't have any questions for me." they all just shake their heads and head off towards the rest of Momon's party.

Just as Momon turns his back to head to the carriage also, he feels someone tapping him on the back to get his attention. He turns around and sees a half-elf standing in front of him holding out what looks like Uzruth's katana.

"You defeated him in a duel so his equipment belongs to you now, Lord Momon." Imina says to him with a big grin on her face.

"As I told the elves, I am no lord. I don't really have a use for his equipment but I suppose I'll take the katana. It is the first one I've seen here. You may do with the rest of it as you please." Momon says to her as he takes the katana from her grasp.

As he is walking back towards the carriage he hears the whispers between the workers and adventurers that is slowly increasing in volume. He walks back to the carriage with a smile under his helm.

Nothing feels better than ridding the world of a slave-owning rapist in his mind. Not that he has any trouble sleeping easy since he is always in bed with two beauties but this memory will certainly bring some pleasant sleep to him.

Once the talking between the workers finally died down, they started to make their way towards the carriages for the mission. The old butler said the Earl's estate would deal with Uzruth's body so no one had to worry about that. Ainz was certainly going to have it retrieved and turned into an undead. One death for someone like that just wasn't enough.

After all the workers and other adventurers made it to their positions in and on the carriages, they headed towards the unexplored ruins where the mission was to take place. When they finally arrived and started setting up camp, some of the workers took to scouting the area around the unknown tomb.

The ruins appeared to be a cemetery that was starting to sink into the ground. They concluded that the reason no one had explored these ruins yet was because of its location. There was nowhere around that showed signs of an ancient city or anything like it around. There was nothing to draw the attention of an adventurer, but now, some of the ground around the tomb had fallen away and shown part of the outer wall. That was the reason someone had finally stumbled across these ruins.

Each team took turns scouting the outside of the tomb and the surrounding area. Once everyone had scouted enough for them to feel comfortable proceeding, they all headed towards the entrance of the ruins as night descended on them.

Back at the camp, Ainz and company were getting ready to head back to Nazarick to oversee the defenses. Albedo was going to supervise Pandora's Actor so he knew all the defensive capabilities of Nazarick just as well as Albedo did. This was pretty much the reason for letting these filthy thieves into Nazarick. However, Taylar seemed to have a different idea now instead of returning with Ainz and Albedo.

"I'm going to stay in camp instead of returning to Nazarick with you two." Taylar said to Ainz and Albedo

"Why would you want to stay here?" Albedo asks before Ainz can

"Well, Ainz stole my fun when he killed that scumbag. He was supposed to be my fun but he is no longer around for that. I think staying here and keeping the elves company would be more beneficial at the moment. My presence seems to calm down those who have gone through traumatic experiences. It worked with Tsuare so I don't see why it wouldn't work with those three elves." Taylar tells them

"I suppose I see your point. It would help if they were a lot calmer when we took them to Carne. It wouldn't do to have them attacking the humans there thinking they were going to be sold again or something like that. Sorry about taking that kill from you." Ainz says to her

"He deserved it so no big deal. I think this would be a better use of my time anyway. Now that is settled, why don't you two return and send your doppelgangers so I can go visit those elves?" Taylar says. Ainz and Albedo agree, give Taylar a parting kiss, and head through the Gate back to Nazarick.

Now that everyone had scaled down the walls and made their way into the graveyard, it was clear to see that this was no ordinary place. The crypt's architecture and craftsmanship were nothing short of majestic. It was made of polished white stone and there was no sign of any damage at all to the structure.

Up a flight of stairs was a thick, black metal door that was also polished so well there was no rust what so ever on it. It was clear to everyone that if this place was this well maintained, there had to be something living here. The easiest assumption would be undead since this was a graveyard and that was the conclusion most of them came to.

The thieves in the group slowly made their way in front of everyone else checking for traps but spotted none. It wasn't long until all of the workers were standing in front of the black metal door. The thief from Gringham's group checked the door. He found no traps and that the door was unlocked. Gringham was surprised that the door wasn't locked but he opened the door anyway.

As they stepped in the tomb, it was pitch black and they couldn't see anything. A few magic casters used the continual light spell so everyone could take in what they saw. The tomb was quickly illuminated and the sight caused everyone to be kind of confused. The room they were stepping into seemed more like a nobles chamber instead of a tomb.

In the center of the room was a stone coffin that you would normally see in a temple. It was about seven or eight feet long with intricate carvings on it. There were four alabaster statues carved into the shape of fully armed and armored warriors in each corner.

Hanging on the wall was a banner with a symbol none of them had ever seen before. Most workers knew the heraldry of most noble houses and none recognized this one. It had to be a foreign noble house or one lost to time. It got everyone excited at the prospect of finding the treasures of a long lost ancient noble house.

The thieves went ahead to search for traps while everyone took in the room. Once the thieves had returned and let them know that there were no traps ahead did they notice the things in the room. The thief from Gringham's group turned to his leader after pointing at the banner.

"That is really valuable you know? It is made from cloth-of-gold." he tells his leader

"Huh?! Cloth-of-gold? Do they just leave something that valuable lying around? Is something wrong with their heads?" Gringham says to everyone

Everyone realizes there are more treasures just inside the entrance and a quiet buzz starts to go around. They are all anticipating even more treasure deeper within and can hardly hold themselves back once they realize the treasure in this room alone will match what they are already being paid for this job by the Earl.

Seeing all those jewels and gold inside the coffin when the thief finally opened it sent them into a frenzy at the possibility of the riches in this place. Once they talk with each other and realize the banner and most of the treasure will be too heavy to haul along with them, they decide to just come to get it later on their way out and start heading deeper into the tomb.

When all the teams had met back up in the middle, they all confirmed what each group was excited about. Every room that had been check held untold riches and they were just in the first few rooms of this place. The realization that they could all be rich enough to retire once they made it out of here moved them to hurry along and dive deeper inside this place.

But before they could take another step inside the tomb, Parpatra had a suggestion he wanted to put forth to everyone.

"Before we proceed, why doesn't my team go back outside and search for hidden doors?" he asked everyone

"Why would you want to do that? We already searched the surface even if we weren't that thorough. Do you think there might be some hidden entrance on the surface?" Gringham asks Parpatra

"Elder has a point, I heard that even the Sasasharu Ruins had a safe passage leading directly to the center of the ruin just steps away from the entrance." One of Parpatra's team members says.

"Elder, we checked all the way up to this room but didn't find any hidden passages. Don't you think it is a waste of time?" Dryzex asks him

"That is why I am offering. No one else wants to miss out on more possible treasure and we are willing to let you have the first crack at it. Since we will be losing a lot if the next rooms are like the previous, why don't we settle on us receiving 10% of the loot you recover without us and allowing us to get the first choice tomorrow?" Parpatra puts his full offer forth.

"I have no objection to this proposal." Gringham was the first to agree.

"Good, is everyone else in agreement then?" Parpatra asks the rest of them

"I'm not comfortable with it, to be honest, but since it is only 10% of the loot, I can agree to that." Dryzex says

The other team leaders agreed right after Dryzex gave his consent as well. The idea of giving up some of their loot didn't sit well with most, but if there was more treasure deeper in the tomb as there was at the start, it would be worth giving up just 10%. The greedy gleam in almost everyone's eyes was saying everything they needed to.

As they proceeded farther into the tomb, they encountered some bodies in bags. After they cut a few open they realized they were all humans but couldn't put a time on when they died. For all they knew, they had been here for hundreds of years or they could have just been put there yesterday.

It didn't take long for some of them to grow restless at stopping every time they saw even the littlest thing. They got everyone moving deeper into the tomb. After just a few more steps down the corridor, everyone dropped into a stance and readied their weapons as they heard the sounds of bones creaking from ahead of them.

Due to the poor illumination in the corridor, they couldn't make out very well what was coming towards them. After closing the distance a few more steps, all the workers looked on in disbelief at what was coming towards them.

"Are you for real?..." one trails off

"Aren't they too..." another says.

"EH? Really? Only skeletons?" the last one says before everyone burst out laughing. They could hardly believe it was just some normal skeletons guarding this tomb.

All of them were having a good laugh at this. It was hard for them to stop laughing and get serious at this level of opponent. Most of them joked that whoever ran this tomb probably either didn't notice them yet or severely underestimated their power. None of them even wanted to engage the skeletons because they were so weak.

Gringham finally stepped up and told them he would take care of them. It only took mere seconds before he destroyed all eight skeletons and was back to making jokes about the enemies strength. After everyone had another good laugh, they headed deeper into the tomb. Everyone's eyes shining with greed at the possibility of more treasure being guarded by such weak monsters.

DRAGON HUNT...

As Gringham and the other worker groups were proceeding deeper into the tomb, Parpatra and the other members of Dragon Hunt were climbing the stairs to finally exit the tomb and check the outside once more. Once they knew they were out of earshot, the members started asking Parpatra the questions they had wanted to since his proposal.

"Elder, don't you think that was a wasted opportunity? We could have let one of the other teams search the surface." one member asks him

"That's true. It really wouldn't have mattered what team searched the surface. The other teams probably could have done just as good a job as we will." Parpatra replies

"Then..." Parpatra interrupts him before he can continue.

"Being the first ones to survey an unknown tomb could put us in danger we have no knowledge of. By letting them go first and giving us priority choice tomorrow, we should have most of the tomb mapped and we will be more aware of what dangers await us. Even if we miss out on some loot, I got them to agree to share a portion of it with us without putting us in danger." he replies to them

"Ahhhh, now I see Elder." another one of them says

"But based on what we saw in the first few rooms, we might miss out on some amazing treasures. Is it really worth the risk?" another asks

"You are not wrong but take a look around you. This place is way too clean, there has to be someone taking care of this place which means, someone must live here. I'd personally rather the other worker teams find out what kind of monsters live here since there are so many unknowns. Worst case scenario, we use them as bait to escape." Parpatra says to him

"So that is another reason you suggested we search the surface? If we hear their screams we can just run away while they draw the attention?"

"Yes, as I said, there were many reasons for me suggesting such a thing, but I should apologize for not discussing this with you beforehand." Parpatra.

"No need to worry, Elder. We trust you. You are team leader for a reason." Parpatra nods his head in acknowledgment.

"Aren't you all just a wonderful and trusting team." a beautiful female voice interrupts from nowhere.

The voice sounded nothing like any of the voices of the females that had accompanied them on this mission. Only the two from Foresight and the three elven slaves were female here and none of them sounded like that. All of the members of Dragon Hunt quickly turned around with their weapons at the ready.

When they saw where the voice had come from, they saw several women standing at the top of the tomb stairs they had just come down. All of them were unbelievably beautiful and wearing maid's clothing. The outfits looked to have a metallic shine to them almost like they were armor. They looked incredibly out of place here, not to mention, where in the hell did they come from? They weren't there when they exited the tomb.

"Who are you and where did you come from?" Parpatra asks the beauties.

"Women? They are just as beautiful as those three from The Forsaken too." the cleric says

"They don't seem like enemies, but they definitely weren't hired by the same people who hired us." the thief says

"What should we do Elder?" the arcane caster asks

Parpatra is contemplating what to do here. His best option would be to negotiate with the women but he didn't think that would end well. They seemed to have even numbers and maybe that was the best way to approach this. Before he could voice his thoughts, the thief tried a joke, but it didn't work out in his favor.

"If they are responsible for this cemetery, I don't think we have much to worry about. This place isn't in the greatest shape." he laughs only for a feeling of dread and ice to wash over all of them.

When they looked up at the top of the stairs, all of the maids were glaring down at them obviously offended by the joke. A murderous aura was radiating off of every one of the maids.

"We ShOuLd KiLl ThEm AlL." Entoma says

"They need to die." CZ Delta says

"They deserve to die slow and suffer unimaginable pain before they die!" Solution says

The maid in the center who looked to be in charge, lightly clapped her hands together to get the others attention. As she started slowly walking her way down the steps, the members of Dragon Hunt could hear her heels clanking off the marble steps. It sounded like they were made of metal and her approaching with no obvious weapons made them all uncomfortable.

"Now, now Pleiades. We were ordered to let none return alive so killing them is a given, but you know we have our orders. These worms are not ours to dispose of sisters." Yuri tells the Pleiades.

She turns from her sisters and faces Dragon Hunt as she reaches the middle of the stairs. The other members of the Pleiades join her moments later.

"Now, even though our time together will be short, let me introduce myself. I am Yuri Alpha, vice-captain of the Pleiades Battle Maids. While we would love to deal with you ourselves, that would be a rather dull and one-sided affair. It is very unfortunate." she tells them.

Even though the words were threatening and left her mouth as if she was supremely superior to them, they sounded like the most beautiful song they had ever heard. The tone and air of superiority did nothing to lessen the beauty of the five of them. They all held an attractiveness that would make any man fall in love in an instant.

"Let me introduce your opponents." Yuri says before any can say anything else and claps her hands once more. "Nazarick Old Guard, arise!"

The ground split open behind them and several skeletons appeared from the opening in the ground. Parpatra looked back at the stairs then to the skeletons and noticed the big problem right away. The maids seemed like they would be true to their word and stay out of it as they were all sitting on the steps now, but that wasn't what worried him.

As he got a better look at the skeletons, he could see magnificent breastplates, kite shields, composite longbows, and melee weapons on every skeletons. What worried him greatly was the fact that everything those skeletons were wearing was magical equipment. Not just run of the mill ordinary magic equipment either. It was on par or surpassed every piece of gear he had acquired over his very long career. All of his team members audibly gulped and took a step back when they noticed.

"Just what are those, Elder?" the arcane caster asks he just shakes his head. He has no idea either but they were obviously the bigger threat than those maids.

"Not even you know Elder? I'm not sure myself but maybe a sub-species of the skeletal warrior?" the divine caster asks uncertainty in every word. Before Parpatra can answer, Yuri cuts into the conversation.

"Considering how many of you there are, I believe this will be enough to deal with you. Please, put forth a good showing for the supreme ones." she says to them

"So this must be the ultimate strength of the tomb, right? Do you really think you can stop us with just this?" Parpatra asks Yuri to gauge her reaction.

Yuri looked around as if she had been taken aback. Parpatra thinks he hit the nail on the head. They must have been setting up this trap since they started talking. Based on their current situation, he didn't really see any other choice but to charge directly at the skeletons and try to break their way through. Being caught in a pinch move meant they had to break through if they were going to get out of here.

"It seems in my attempt to keep us out of harm's way, I turned us into the canaries instead. I apologize but we just have to break through those skeletons and that should be the most powerful of them." Parpatra says to his team.

"I would imagine there can't be many types of this level of the undead around here. Let's do our best and get out of here!" the other warrior says to Parpatra.

"Well, we wish you the best of luck. We will be cheering you on from here." Yuri says as the rest of the Pleiades do indeed start cheering for Dragon Hunt.

The cheering didn't last very long as all the Pleiades were surprised at the unexpected situation unfolding in front of them. These were supposed to be the best workers in the kingdom and they had not anticipated this situation at all.

"Are they really for real?" Yuri says

"Unexpected." says CZ Delta

"I am very surprised as well." Solution says

"If ThInGs Go On LiKe ThIs, ThEy WoN't LaSt LoNg." Entoma says

As they were watching the action that was only seconds old, they watched as a warhammer was coming down towards the head of the second warrior of this worker team. It was obvious he was too slow to dodge it and was about to pay the price for it.

"Oh no~ he isn't going to make it if that thing connects with his melon~!" Lupus Regina says and right at that instant, the hammer connected with his skull, smashing it in and sending his limp body down for good.

"Mr. Cleric~ If you heal him fast enough, he won't die~" Lupus Regina follows up quickly. While CZ Delta just shakes her head at the statement.

"No point. Instant death and their formation collapsed because of him going down." she says

The teams rogue was struggling mightily just to fend off one from getting to the arcane caster, the cleric went down right after the warrior fell, and the last member of the team looked like he was about to be defeated.

Only Parpatra seemed to be having any luck dealing with the skeletons. He was currently fending off three at once but all he could do was defend. He couldn't lend anyone a hand and he never had an opportunity to deal any damage to any of his attackers.

Parpatra's luck seemed to change when two things happened. First, the thief was taken out with a sword through the back followed shortly by the arcane caster. The next thing that led to his downfall was Lupus Regina taking an interest in routing him on and waving to him.

That momentary distraction was enough for a Nazarick Old Guard in full plate to connect with his electric warhammer and send Parpatra down to the ground never to get up again. The blow did not kill him but knocked him unconscious. Not far in the future, he would wish many times that blow had killed him.

When the battle had finally finished, the Pleiades almost felt bad for the workers. The fight had been one-sided from the start, and the workers really stood no chance. It was the reason they started cheering for the workers hoping it would get them to fight better. There was still a mystery they all shared though.

"Why did they think there would only be that many Nazarick Old Guard~? Did they really think those were the most powerful undead in the tomb~?" Lupus Regina asks

"It seems as though the humans in this world think of everything in a way that was convenient for them. Although it could be they were either just stupid or it was some form of self-assurance and human preservation to gather courage. Either way, it didn't work and that was a highly disappointing show." Yuri says to them.

"ThEy SmElL dEliCiOuS, fReSh MeAt." Entoma says

"Leave them be, Entoma. We can ask Lord Ainz later but we have our orders for now. Take the ones that are still alive to Neuronist and gather the bodies of the dead." Yuri says

That was the night Parpatra and the members of Dragon Hunt disappeared from the world.

HEAVY MASHER...

While they were being dispatched by the Nazarick Old Guard, the worker group Heavy Masher found themselves in a sticky situation.

It was not all that long ago their leader, Gringham, was laughing at having to face normal skeletons. They currently found themselves in the same situation, but this time, none of them were laughing.

They were in a room that was about fifty feet wide and fifteen feet tall. The only light illuminating the room was from the two torches dropped on the ground and the continual light spell that the cleric had cast on the end of his staff.

"Another wave of attacks, NOW!" Gringham shouts

Each member of the team reaches their weapon above or around the warrior's tower shield who is currently holding back the horde of skeletons and zombies trying to overrun Heavy Masher. Right after each of them takes out a few skeletons or zombies with some well-placed strikes, the gaps are immediately filled in with more undead.

That is when the cleric uses his turn undead ability, but even after taking out almost twenty of them yet again, the gaps are filled in again in an instant. It is true that facing off against eight skeletons is a laughing matter for workers of this level but facing off against hundreds is certainly no laughing matter.

If it wasn't for their warrior and his tower shield holding back the dead, they would have been overrun a while ago. While it is true that their claws, hands, and rusty weapons wouldn't be able to penetrate the armor on the warriors, not everyone was wearing plate armor. Even those in plate had gaps or the armor could be ripped off when overwhelmed.

"Damn it! There is just too many of them!" their thief says to everyone.

"Where the hell did they all come from?!" the arcane caster says

They had broken off from the rest of the worker groups a while ago and had been exploring their side of the tomb. They had found a number of rooms but not nearly as much treasure as there had been on the first level. Everything was going smoothly until they entered this room. The door on the other side opened when they made it into the center of the room and the undead started pouring in.

"We have no idea when, or if, this horde will end. We are going to have to make a run for it! I'll take out the first row. After I do, I need you" he points to the cleric. "to use turn undead to give us more space. While he is turning the undead, I want you" he points to the arcane caster. " to use fly. Once his turn has destroyed as many as it can, cast fireball from the air. We will run under you and as soon as we pass you, follow with fly as fast as you can." Gringham gives his instructions to his teammates.

They all nod their heads and Gringham gets to work. He carves a space between the tower shield user and the undead. That is quickly followed up by the clerics turn and then three quick fireballs from the arcane caster. The undead was still pouring in and didn't look to be ending anytime soon. Luckily for Heavy Masher, Gringham's plan gave them more than enough room and they all bolted down the hallway as fast as the could away from the horde.

"Let's go! Follow me!" Gringham shouts

"Alright!" everyone replies

All of them fled down the hallway as fast as their feet would allow them to. They ran for a good distance with nowhere else visible to turn off from. They just continued down a narrow hallway for what felt like an eternity until the thief spotted a door just ahead of them on the left side of the hallway.

"A door!" the thief yells.

Everyone follows the thief inside quickly. The door wasn't reinforced in any way, and it would be hard to keep the undead out but it should hold for quite a while. If they reinforced it with one of their team members and rotated they could probably wait in here almost indefinitely. A chilling sensation emanating from below them put an end to the idea that they would be in here until they wanted to leave.

"It's a trap! Everyone get out of the ro-" the thief's words are cut off as the floor falls out from underneath them.

A floating sensation enveloped their bodies and after just a few seconds, their bodies impacted a hard ground. Gringham could hear everyone's groans of pain as they started to stand up from the fall. He looked around the room as he stood back up.

He looked up and saw the ceiling was far above them. It had to of been at least forty feet above them. He noticed another door about halfway up the trap and it looked as though they fell about two or three floors down. As he looked around more he noticed a lot more doors on every side of the trap.

The room was shaped like a pillar but at the bottom of the trap, the floor was shaped like an inverted pyramid. The steep slope was almost certain to cause someone to roll down to the very bottom. He was surprised no one had taken any serious damage after a fall down into this place.

The doors in this pillar like room would be easy enough for someone like the thief to get to, but for someone in plate armor like Gringham, it would be near impossible. They did notice a door at the very bottom of the pit, but the idea of the room sloping towards that door did not fill any of them with confidence it was a safe way out.

Right as they were about to discuss how to get out of this place, they all heard a door open above them. Each of them looked up and saw a creature that did not give them feelings of hope. If it was not for the places that were obvious attempts at eyes, a mouth, and arms, this creature would look like nothing more than a slab of bloated flesh.

It looked down at Heavy Masher and abruptly threw itself towards them straight down the shaft. The creature hit with a sickening thud before it started rolling towards them. It seemed only Gringham and their cleric knew what that creature was.

"Get out of the way! Plague Bomber!" they both yell

Everyone dodges out of the way and the creature can't seem to stop its momentum on the slope and rolls straight down to the bottom of the trap. Everyone is about to let out a collective sigh of relief until they hear a noise above them and look up.

It seems another door has opened and another Plague Bomber has peaked his head through. It looks right down at them and throws itself straight towards them not caring at all about being over thirty feet from the floor. That is when Gringham realizes what kind of trap this is.

"Whoever made this trap is one evil fucker." he says for everyone to hear.

They all look at him then follow what he is looking at. That is when all of them realize how right he is. Instead of this room flooding with water to drown someone like they would expect, this room is going to fill with these Plague Bombers and you will either slip down the slope and get crushed to death or die from the negative energy they give off or when they explode. It truly was a sinister trap.

"I'll use FLY to get out of here." the arcane caster says

"Don't bother with FLY! You can't carry us out with it." Gringham says

"I'll use WEB LADDER then! I'll attach it to the closest door." the arcane caster says

"NO! Not that one, attach it to the one we came through. That door near us is dangerous!" the thief says. They didn't really have time to argue so the caster did as told.

*WEB LADDER*

The magic worked and the spider web spread up the wall towards the door. It was truly a convenient spell. The web would stick to you if you didn't want to move and let go the instant you wanted to climb it. It was the perfect solution for their precarious position.

The thief was the first up the ladder so he could check the hallway. If they got pushed back here, this would definitely be the end of them. There would be nowhere left to go for them except one of those other doors which all seemed very dangerous. He checked down the hallway and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he encountered nothing.

They all took a moment to catch their breath then continued down the hallway. After they had traveled for a few minutes, they saw an intersection come into sight. Only a few steps after seeing it, the thief stopped them and brought his finger up in front of his lips signaling them to be quiet. A few moments later, all of them heard a clacking sound coming from one of the hallways.

The members slowly proceeded down the hallway trying to make as little noise as possible. Once they arrived at the intersection, the thief took a look down the right hallway and saw nothing but more hallway and an intersection a good distance down. When he turned to the left, he saw something he wished he hadn't.

Everyone saw the thief pale, slowly reaching for his weapon and withdrawing it. They couldn't wait for him to say anything and their curiosity got the best of them. All of them peaked around the corner and saw why the thief had reacted the way he did.

About one hundred feet down the hallway where two undead. They had limbs as thin as a starving human, old, luxurious robes, and each held a twisted staff in one hand. There was an aura of negative energy around it, and it gave off a look of fiendish wisdom. This was the source of the noise they had heard. An undead magic caster known as...

"Elder Liches!" the arcane magic caster says louder than he should have.

Both Elder Liches turn at the sound of the caster yelling. Everyone in the party wants to hit him for being so stupid but they all just get into a fighting stance. It would be difficult for them to defeat two Elder Liches but they could do it if they worked together well enough.

"These have to be the masters of this tomb! If we can defeat them, we can get out of here! Everyone, prepare to attack!" Gringham says to them

Each one of his party members readies their weapons and begin casting their defensive magic. After a little bit, he notices something strange about the Elder Liches. They haven't moved at all since they looked at them. He found that strange since they readied their weapons and began casting magic. Usually, an Elder Lich would lead with a long-range Fireball spell and this was the perfect chance to do that but neither of them seemed inclined to cast it.

"Why are they just standing there? Shouldn't they be preparing to defend themselves?" Gringham finally asks everyone.

"Maybe they just want to talk and don't want to fight? I have no idea." the arcane caster says. Maybe he was right so Gringham stepped forward a bit. It was his job as a leader to talk as the representative.

"Excuse me, we believe you two might be-" his words were cut off when he noticed one of the Elder Liches hold up a bony finger to his lips signaling him to be quiet and listen, more clacking noises can be heard coming from behind the two Elder Liches.

He looked behind them and his blood turned to ice at the sight. Coming from farther behind the two Elder Liches were six more Elder Liches. An impossible task for any worker team and maybe even an adamantite ranked adventure team. There was no way in hell they could survive against eight Elder Liches at once.

Every member of Heavy Masher was about to panic and run in any direction they could, but the calm voice of their leader kept them from doing such a thing.

"Well, there is only one thing to do..." Gringham states calmly.

"What do we do leader?" they all ask in near frantic voices

Gringham looks each of them in the eye calmly and it gives them a little reassurance he has a plan for this. Once he looks over all of them, he looks back at the Elder Liches then turns his attention back to his team. When he looks back, his eyes are wide in panic and he shouts out...

"RUN!" as he takes off down the only hallway they haven't been through yet. They all followed without even a second thought.

They ran and ran and ran and ran and ran for a long time. Every time they thought it would be safe to stop, the Elder Liches would appear and start throwing Fireball's their way. They finally saw a door to hide behind down the hallway after they had fled for what felt like an eternity.

When they all had finally made it in the room, the warrior threw his shield and body against the door to hold it in place just in case. It didn't seem as though the Elder Liches had pursued them but they all started to feel that strange sensation again when they fell into that trap last time. Only this time, it felt a little different. A magic circle lit up the room and all the members of Heavy Masher disappeared from the room.

Gringham knew that his eyes were open but it was so pitch black, he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He felt like a little child, alone and afraid in the dark. When he called out, that is exactly what he sounded like.

"I-I-Is anybody there?..."

"Over here, Gringham." he heard the thief say.

He then heard the warrior and arcane caster call out as well. He waited for a minute but realized he hadn't heard the divine caster say anything at all.

"Should I turn on a light?" he heard the thief ask

"Sure thing." he really wanted to see so he could find a way out of here.

Off to his right, he heard a cracking noise and saw the thief slowly illuminate in a green light that was coming from the stick he just cracked open. Once the illumination had spread so they could see a bit, he noticed a ton of shiny objects below him. They all seemed to be about waist-deep in them. When he looked closer, he wished he hadn't had the thief illuminate the room.

He could barely suppress the screams that wanted to escape from his mouth and it looked like the thief was in the middle of having a seizure at realizing where they currently were. The countless reflections Gringham had noticed were the entirety of this room covered in insects. There were cockroaches varying in size from the size of your pinky finger to ones that were almost five feet in length.

The strange sensation he had been feeling was the countless cockroaches crawling all over his skin as they were layered one on top of the other all the way up to their waists. The crunching sounds that were being made had him almost vomiting up everything in his stomach as he tried to imagine being anywhere but where he currently was.

He had to get himself together and get his team out of here. He pushed all the disgust down and started to slowly walk his way towards his team members. The sickening crunching noise was not making it any easier.

"Come on, we have to get out of here guys." he says to them to get them moving towards him.

"I'm sorry, I cannot allow you to escape." a new voice interrupts their attempted escape.

"Who... Who's there?" Gringham says sounding like a scared little boy again.

"I apologize, where are my manners? This one is called Kyouhukou. I am entrusted with this territory by Lord Ainz and Lady Taylar. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

They all turn towards the source of the voice and notice a section of the cockroaches almost flowing upwards like a fountain. Slowly but surely, another cockroach emerges from the area but he isn't like any of the other cockroaches in this area.

He is standing up on two legs and is around five feet tall. He is wearing a very nice red, velvet cape with fur and jewel lining. A small crown adorns the top of its head between its antennas, and it is holding onto a very expensive looking scepter. The first thing that comes to all their minds is... King of the Cockroaches!

"Who... Who are you?" Gringham asks again stunned.

"It seems you did not hear me the first time I introduced myself. Would you like me to do it again?" Kyouhukou says

"No that... that won't be necessary. I'll just be honest with you. Do you want to trade?" Gringham asks the giant cockroach

"Oh! You want to trade huh? Well, I am feeling very thankful right now so there is no reason I can't listen to your proposal." Kyouhukou says to him

"We would like to get out of this room unharmed." Gringham says

"Of course you would ask for that, but even if you got out of here, you are still on the second floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. It would be exceedingly dangerous for you to actually return to the surface." Kyouhukou tells him

"Of course if you could tell us the way out that would be great, but that might be too much to ask. I'll settle for just getting out of here and we can find our way out." Gringham says

"Hmmm... that sounds like an interesting proposal." he replies

"We will give you whatever you want in exchange." Gringham says

"I'm sorry but I already have everything I desire. You are already providing me with what I wish so I'll have to decline your offer." Kyouhukou says

"What!" Gringham yells

"Oh, you seem confused. Well, let me explain it to you. You see, me and my children are getting tired of cannibalism. With you four here, you will serve as the solution for that. Once we have eaten you alive a few hundred times and we grow bored with eating you, you will be allowed to perish. So thank you for your contribution to me and my children." Kyouhukou states.

As soon as he finished speaking, the room started to rumble and every cockroach in the area started to move. Then suddenly, a tidal wave of cockroaches erupted like the swell of a black sea and engulfed the four members of Heavy Masher. It swept them away in a wave of cockroaches that pulled them down to be devoured by Kyouhukou's children.

Kyouhukou stayed true to his word and their screams of agony and suffering could be heard on the second floor of Nazarick for months as Kyouhukou and his children ate and healed the members of Heavy Masher over and over again.

The divine magic caster of Heavy Masher slowly opened his eyes. When his vision came into focus, he noticed a strange ceiling made of stone with white glowing objects embedded in it. He tried to move but realized he was completely bound and he could barely move anything.

He wanted to scream out at the incomprehensible situation he found himself in but something was in his mouth preventing him from speaking or screaming right now. When he desperately tried to look around, he heard a voice speak.

"Oh my, you are awake finally?!" the guttural voice said.

He turned towards the voice and wished he hadn't. The creature had the body of an obese human and the head of an octopus. Its skin was a milky white color almost what someone who drowned looked like. The bloated corpse-like body had black leather on it almost like some sort of clothing. It was on so tight the only word to be able to describe the sight as disgusting.

"I hope you slept well." the creature says to him.

"Hrr, Hmm, Hrrr, Hrr, Hmm." he tries to talk but only muffled noise comes out.

"No need to be scared handsome. You are shriveling up in all the wrong places." the creature says while running its disgusting fingers up and down his abs.

"..." he can't say anything as he panics.

"Oh don't worry, we are going to have fun together. Let me introduce myself. I am the Great Tomb of Nazarick's Special Information Gatherer, Neuronist Painkill. Some call me the Interrorgator fufufu." Neuronist giggles at the end.

"Hrrrrrrrrrrrr!" he muffled screams again.

"Unfortunately, Lord Ainz has plans for you so we will only have a limited amount of time to play together. I hope you will make beautiful music for me to share with my beloved Lord Ainz! But until he comes for you, you are all mine." he does not like the sound of that. "Now I just have one more question for you... Do you know what kidney stones are?"

Just a moment later, he is on his way to making beautiful music for Neuronist. Ainz forgot about him for a lot longer than he had planned to and he made beautiful music for Neuronist for months longer than he was supposed to.

MERCILESS ONSLAUGHT...

Dryzex and his team Merciless Onslaught picked the path at the crossroads that seemed to lead the deepest into the tomb. They figured that would lead to the strongest enemies, most experience, and best treasure. So far their assumption had been completely incorrect.

They had been traversing stone corridor after stone corridor and not running into anything. There were no monsters, no traps, no treasure, nothing at all. They were starting to think they had picked the wrong route and were tempted to double back and choose a different one.

That is when they heard the telltale sound of bone scraping against stone. It sounded like it was coming from farther down the corridor around one of the bends. They all slowly proceeded down the corridor and peeked around the corner. What they saw were undead the had only recently become acquainted with.

Unlike Hekkeran of Foresight, Dryzex believed it was more than worth spending money on adventurer teams and incidents that occurred in other kingdoms. The three undead around the corner he remembered being described in the incident that took place in the graveyard in E-Rantel.

There was three skeletal undead standing at the end of the hallway, slowly making their way towards where Merciless Onslaught was waiting. Each skeleton still had a stomach and its intestines were wrapped all around its skeletal frame. This undead was called a Mohrg. It could use those intestines like an octopus could use its tentacles.

If someone were to approach this undead like they were fighting a normal skeleton, it would not end well for them. Dryzex had briefed his team on this monster the moment he found out about it so they should all be prepared to bring one down. Fighting three of them at the same time might be a chore but he was sure they would come out on top if they stuck to their strategy.

He turned around to his team and relayed the situation. They all had already gone over a strategy to fight this kind of undead so they quickly got into the right positions and waited for the undead to make it into their view. As soon as the first one started to appear around the corner, Dryzex used one of his martial arts to start things off.

*HEAVY STRIKE*

As his swords impact the first Mohrg, he cuts off its right arm and three of its tentacles in the process. As soon as he finishes the strike, the other two warriors in the party step in front of him and make a shield wall as the tentacles from the other two Mohrg's strikeout to grab him.

The tentacles impact both shields and the warriors stand firm. This opening is what the arcane and divine casters had been waiting for and didn't waste the opportunity.

*FIREBALL*

The arcane caster yells out. He aimed his Fireball behind the three Mohrg's so it would still catch them in the area of effect but not hit any of his teammates. The fireball seemed to be very effective and destroyed the Mohrg that Dryzex had already attack and looked to considerably weaken the other two.

*HOLY SMITE*

As the cleric finishes his spell, a column of white light descends on the two remaining Mohrg's. The holy light seems to burn through the Mohrg's like a fire would through wood. Once the light had disappeared, the Mohrg's were barely able to stand and this is when Dryzex saw his opening to end this fight quickly. He sprung forward and activated another martial art.

*DUAL SLASH*

His sword glows red and as he swings the weapon downwards, his sword looks like it splits in two and he attacks both Mohrg's at the same time. He connected right in the center of each of their skulls and the slash attack continued down the length of their skeletal frame, splitting both of them in half right down the center. They both hit the ground and turned into dust just like the first one had after the Fireball had connected.

"Great work everyone. That went a lot smoother than I had anticipated." Dryzex tells his team members after they defeated the three undead. Even the thief who only watched their backs to make sure nothing snuck up from behind them did his job to perfection.

They checked the immediate area right after the battle and found no traps, treasure, or more undead. They decided to follow the path in the direction that the Mohrg's had come from and proceeded down the right corridor.

They walked for a few thousand feet before coming to another T intersection. The thief poked his head around the left side and saw another dark corridor leading farther into the tomb. When he looked to the right, his eyes almost bugged out of his head at the sight. He quickly brought his head back and everyone noticed the expression on his face go from bug-eyed shock to huge grin in a matter of moments.

"Take a peek around that corner." The thief says to the rest of the party.

Everyone slowly looks down the right corridor and quickly realize that it isn't a corridor at all. It seems to be a large opening into a room. They can see the wall on the far side of the room but that isn't what drew their attention or what lead to the thief's reaction.

They noticed it was brighter in that room than all the others. There was a shine coming from the floor that was reflecting the light in the room. They all realized the bright shine was thousands upon thousands of gold coins just strewn about the floor.

From what Dryzex judged to be the size of the room, based on how far away the opposite wall was, if those coins stretched from the opening to the wall, they might be looking at millions of gold coins.

Enough that even if they had to give most of it up to fees and the Earl they would all never have to lift another finger again. The prospect and greed that comes along with that much wealth compelled their feet forward into the room without them even thinking about it.

When they all finally made it into the room, it was better than they could have ever hoped for. As they scanned from left to right they saw nothing but jewels, gems, and gold coins everywhere. Just the first glimpse you could say it was in the millions.

However, once their scan leads them to the right side of the room. There was something completely out of place as they heard a clinking noise coming from the far right wall. They all looked in that direction and saw a strange sight for being in the depths of a tomb.

Sitting in an intricately carved white chair, next to a white table with a tea set sitting upon it was a woman in a maid outfit. She had long red hair that was braided into two braids that fell down on either side of her shoulders. Her maid outfit looked to be both practical and eye-opening as they could see every inch of her leg crossed over her other with the long slit that went up to her hip. Black stockings with an intricate lace pattern at the top of them covered almost every inch of her well-shaped legs. She had yellow eyes that seemed to be measuring all of them up and when she spoke, it sounded both musical and terrifying.

"Hehe~ You finally made it to the tea party~ I'll be your host Lupus Regina~ Please take care of me~" she finishes with a smile that is not inviting but predatory.

Normally, Dryzex would have some witty come back or at least something to say. Being one of the more successful worker groups in the empire he was more confident than most. It also helped that unlike most workers, he was more of Orichalcum rank than Mithril like most workers. Being a fairly decent looking man also help him but staring up at this beauty that he couldn't even comprehend, offering the sexiest smile he had ever seen, that only invited obvious pain and suffering had him at a loss for words.

"What's the matter~? Cat got your tongue~?" Lupus Regina starts walking towards them swaying her hips almost hypnotizing them. "Well, I'm no kitty cat~ but I do bite if you ask nicely~" she finishes and stops about twenty feet away from them a sultry smirk on her face.

"Who... who are... you?" Dryzex finally says

"I know humans are stupid but I did already introduce myself fufu~" she giggles at him

As she finishes she snaps her fingers. All of the gold and jewels in the room disappear and it is left as nothing but an empty stone room.

"What, What, What's going on?" Dryzex says

"Oh, all of that was just an illusion~ I take it none of you can use tier 6 True Seeing to see through that level of illusion hehe~ You are here for one of Lord Ainz experiments silly~" Lupus Regina tells them.

"E-E-Experiments?!" Dryzex questions louder than he meant to

"Of course~ Lord Ainz loves his experiments~ Today we are going to see if my experience gain is changed if I gain experience in my other form~" Lupus Regina tells them

"O-O-Other form?" the cleric asks

"Yeppppp~ I did say my name is Lupus Regina~ Do you know what that means in the language of the supreme beings~?" Lupus Regina asks them

All of them just look at each other wondering what in the hell a supreme being is then they all just shake their heads. It was pretty obvious they had no idea what the answer was.

"Lupus Regina means Wolf Queen in the language of the supreme beings ~" Lupus Regina tells them then flashes them another smile with her fangs showing.

"W-W-Werewolf!" the cleric exclaims

"Very good hehe~ but I'm nothing as simple as a regular werewolf~" she tells them

Suddenly, her fangs start to grow larger, her fingers start elongating into razor-sharp claws, her knees break forward, and her skin starts to be covered in red fur. In the span of just a few moments, she has transformed into a giant werewolf. She has to be over seven feet tall and looks ready to eat every single one of them.

"Now, let the experiment begin~" Lupus Regina says in the most seductive and simultaneously terrifying voice anyone could imagine.

Merciless Onslaught finally snaps out of it and both shield using warriors brace their shields in front of them right before Lupus Regina lunges for them. They stand firm behind their shields but it proves to be the wrong move.

Lupus Regina's claws go right through the shields as if they were made of paper. She stabs both of the warriors right in the stomach with a claw in each of them. She raises her arms with the warriors still attached at her hands and, with little effort, tosses them right into the cleric knocking him out.

Dryzex has never been so terrified in his entire life but his instincts kick in and he quickly draws his weapon. By the time his weapon is out and he is ready to attack, the werewolf had disappeared from in front of him and he lost track of her.

The next thing he felt was searing pain in his heel and hamstring. The pain was too intense to take and he fell forward on to his stomach. He managed to look behind him at his legs and noticed four slash wounds in his legs.

Two were across his hamstring on each leg and the other two were on each heel of his foot. It was a precision strike made to deny him the use of his legs. The person or creature who delivered the blow had certainly done this before many a time. That is when he heard her speak again.

"Hehe~ Only the two weak ones left now~ The thief and the arcane caster~ Should I make it quick or play with my food~?" Lupus Regina says to the two still standing.

The thief quickly throws five darts directed straight towards her face. Lupus Regina didn't even move and let them hit her. They simply fell straight to the ground without so much as leaving a scratch. The arcane caster tried his best spell to hopefully buy some time to escape.

*FIREBALL*

The Fireball flies through the air and impacts Lupus Regina right in the chest. The arcane caster gets a proud look on his face but it quickly turns into terror as the explosion clears and he sees what happened. Lupus Regina is still standing in the same spot, completely unharmed by what just happened.

"Fufu~ I can't cast spells in this form but it does make me more resistant to them~ Unless you use a spell higher than tier 6~ I'm afraid, you will never be able to damage me hehe~" she giggles at him.

His jaw hits the floor and before he can have another thought, she is right in front of him and the thief. She brings her claws down so fast neither of them sees. The arcane casters left arm holding his staff and the thief's right arm he was using to throw darts are suddenly flying through the air as blood sprays from their new wounds.

The pain finally catches up to them and they start to scream in agony at the top of their lungs. Lupus Regina is reveling in the sound and continues to slice them up to hear as much of it as she can. Once their screams and tears are no more, she finishes them off and heads towards her last mouse.

"I know it's bad manners to play with your food but~ I'm going to carve you up nice and slow~ You shall know the price that must be paid for defiling our home~" Lupus Regina finishes only for Dryzex screams to replace her voice.

FORESIGHT...

Hekkeran and Foresight were having a rough go at it. The hadn't run across any strong enemies. In fact, they were having the opposite problem. They were running into weaker opponents but it was almost none stop. The enemies were only low tier undead warriors and archers but they had been a constant pain for most of their journey.

They were preparing to fight yet another wave, their twelfth or thirteenth one they believe, and they seemed to be getting stronger. There was a skeletal mage in this group and Arche told all of them it was capable of casting tier 2 magic.

They all wiped the sweat off themselves as they prepared to meet more foes. They all wanted to take a break but there was no time for that right now. The enemy had no intention of letting them rest and was advancing on their position right this moment.

"Conserve your mana! Let Roberdyck handle this wave!" Hekkeran tells the team.

Roberdyck steps out into the hallway and holds his holy symbol high in the air. He could only do this so many times per day but using it to take out a skeletal mage would be more than worth it.

"God of Light, grant me your divine protection and banish my foes, TURN UNDEAD!" As he finishes his turn attempt the skeletons turn to dust even the mage.

He is about to take a breather but sees four ghasts coming down that same corridor followed by two more skeletal warriors. Before they can engage them, Imina lets them in on some new information.

"There are six more coming from behind us!" she shouts

Imina's warning followed closely by Roberdyck's had the tension running high within Foresight. Hekkeran had to consider there next move carefully. On the one hand, they could break through on side and rush down the corridor hoping there weren't many more undead down one of those directions.

He could also retreat back the way they came and try to make it back to the surface and regroup or take the other path they had passed and not gone down. In the end, he decided to trust his instincts.

"Everyone! Retreat back the way we came and take the other path!" he yells to them.

The instant his voice was heard, Imina took off running followed closely behind by Arche and Roberdyck. Hekkeran was just a few steps behind. He could hear the undead pursuing them down the corridor.

He took out a potion of alchemical glue from his bag and tossed it into the ground behind him. He didn't turn around to check but the immediate stopping of footsteps pursuing them let him know it worked as intended. Not long after Imina called out something ahead.

"Four more coming from the right!" she said

"But there is a wall there!" Roberdyck says

"It is just an illusion." Arche follows up just as four ghouls appear through the wall. Hekkeran doesn't even break stride, he just pulls out his weapon and heads straight for them.

"Don't underestimate me!" he yells before activating a martial art.

*LIGHTNING STRIKE*

He stabs his sword through the first ghoul and a line of electricity erupts from the wound traveling through all four ghouls and they all fall over dead. He was about to take a breather when he glanced back behind him and paled. More skeletal warriors and ghouls were coming down the corridor but that wasn't what terrified him.

"Elder Lich!" he yells out

Everyone looks behind them and sees the undead coming towards them. None of them can think of what to do before Hekkeran comes up with the only thing he can think of to get away from that Elder Lich.

"Everyone, through the wall!" he shouts

No one even questioned why he came up with that, they just throw themselves into the wall. They fell right through and now knew it was nothing but an illusion. The moment they all got to their feet, Hekkeran tried to warn them to be careful but never got to finish his message.

"Everyone be careful and stay aler-"

He was cut off when a magic circle activated under their feet and they were enveloped in a bright blue light they could not avoid. The scenery around them shifted. When Hekkeran got his focus back he could see that Imina, Arche, and Roberdyck were still with him.

They were standing in a wide corridor that was dimly light with a high ceiling. Even a giant could walk through this corridor with no problem. Ahead of them was some sort of portcullis, rays of white light shone through the portcullis and behind them was a path of darkness that seemed to stretch on forever.

Not wanting to proceed farther into the darkness, they headed towards the portcullis to see what was on the other side of it. When they got close it opened automatically as if it was inviting them inside. When they stepped through, they couldn't really comprehend what they were seeing.

The place they were currently standing was completely different from everything else they had experienced so far in the tomb. They were standing in the middle of an arena that made the one in the empire look like a shack in comparison.

It appeared as if they had been transported back outside somehow judging by the stars in the night sky. They had no idea how they managed to get so lucky but they couldn't really complain. If worst came to worst, Arche could just cast fly and go get some help for them.

The arena was much more impressive than the one they had visited in the empire. Everything was illuminated by the continual light spell. The architecture and craftsmanship were second to none. The stands were filled with golems that were so lifelike it looked as if they would start cheering any moment. One of those would cost most of someone's fortune and they were looking at hundreds of them. Just as they were about to discuss how to get out of here, they heard something from above them.

"INCOMING!" they see a figure somersault in mid-air as it descends down from the box that had to be at least sixty feet in the air.

They gracefully land on the ground, light as a feather, and Imina has her breath taken away. To be able to fall like that on pure physical ability is completely unheard of. The figure who had absorbed that impact stood proudly in front of them flexing its knees from the impact. Before them stood a Dark Elf child.

He had two long ears which stood out on the side of his golden blonde hair. He was fully dressed in a suit of tight-fitting, light leather armor that looked to be made of jet black and deep crimson dragon scales. He wore a white vest embroidered with gold threads and a coat of arms was sewn onto the breast of the jacket. Once Imina laid her eyes on his heterochromatic eyes, she gasped.

"AH!" but before she could continue

"The challengers have finally arrived!" Aura says into the mic.

All of Foresight look at each other as they take in the appearance of the Dark Elf. A million questions are running through their minds but they never get a chance to ask any of them as the Dark Elf continues to speak into the rod she is holding in her hand.

"The challengers are four reckless fools who have invaded the Great Tomb of Nazarick intent on stealing our riches for themselves! Here to pay witness to our bout, gracing us with his divine presence, the Supreme Overlord of Death, Exalted King of Nazarick, and Master of the Great Tomb. His majesty, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! Accompanying our wonderful lord is our Guardian Overseer and the Demon Queen of Nazarick, Lady Albedo!" Aura finishes with a flourish and motions her hand towards the VIP box.

As they followed his hand up towards the box they all witnessed a sight to behold. Standing up looking over the edge they saw the most handsome and terrifying being they had ever witnessed. His face was one of perfection that any woman would want but his blood-red eyes were filled with nothing but hate and anger. The woman standing beside him was the definition of beauty but her yellow eyes held the same hate and anger that Lord Ainz Ooal Gown's did.

When he spread out a pair of jet black wings behind him, they all felt the dread at their current situation. Before his gaze could make them wet themselves, Aura continued her MCing.

"Here to face off against our intruders is Nazarick's newly promoted Platinum ranked adventure team... The Swords of Darkness!"

As Aura finishes another portcullis goes up and out steps four people. They look like humans to the members of Foresight. There are three men and a woman in the group and they look ready for a fight. The woman looks particularly pissed for some reason and strides straight towards them with purpose in her step.

It isn't lost on any of the members of Foresight how beautiful the woman is or how good looking the three men in her party are but the killing intent being given off by the woman crushes any further thought on that matter. She lets her displeasure known before they begin.

"You dare defile the only place that has ever felt like home to me! Those that rescued my sister and brought us back from the dead?! The place that will soon give me my revenge against the man who wronged my family! You will never leave this place!" Ninya goes off on Foresight.

Ainz is damn impressed at the impromptu speech she put together. He had asked Ninya and the Swords of Darkness if they wanted to test their might against the invaders and it seemed Ninya's passionate yes when he asked wasn't just an act. It seems Taylar has had quite the impact on her. She is borderline guardian devoted to Nazarick now.

Before Foresight can even reply, Ainz snaps his fingers and the golems in the stands start stomping. It only lasts for a few seconds and then he says...

"Begin!"

The Swords of Darkness immediately started moving into formation at Ainz' words. It didn't take long for Foresight's instincts to kick in and they did the same thing. Hekkeran wasn't going to play around with this group.

If they were truly newly promoted to Platinum then Foresight should be able to handle this group without a problem, but he wasn't going to take any chances and started off with his almost unblockable martial art. He charged right at the shield user, stabbed his sword right into his shield, and activated his martial art.

*LIGHTNING STRIKE*

This move is almost unblockable and he just used it to take out four ghouls at once a few moments ago. What he didn't expect was for the shield user to activate his own martial art the moment his sword impacted the man's shield.

*ARMOR REFLECTION*

Peter says as the sword impacts his shield. Instead of the lightning bolt traveling through his shield and behind him, the lightning bolt heads straight back towards the person who just used it. Hekkeran is so close that he has no chance to dodge it and he is flung backward by his own martial art taking a good amount of damage as a result.

As he hits the ground, the Swords of Darkness see the cleric in their party start to raise his hands towards their downed teammate, more than likely to heal him. Ninya doesn't want to let that happen so she targets the cleric to interrupt his casting.

*MAGIC ARROW*

Ninya says as six magic arrows shoot out of the end of her twisted redwood staff. They are headed right towards Roberdyck and he has no chance at all to avoid them but Arche uses her own spell to prevent Roberdyck from being struck.

*ARCANE SHIELD*

Arche says and all six magic arrows are absorbed into the white-blue shield that forms in front of Roberdyck. This gives him the time he needs to cast his healing spell on Hekkeran.

*CURE SERIOUS WOUNDS*

As Roberdyck finishes his spell, a green and white light envelops Hekkeran and the scorch marks and blood quickly disappear from his body and he stands back up quickly. The tier 3 healing spell really hit the spot and returned him back to a state where his HP was full once more.

As Hekkeran is standing back up, Imina has had enough of doing nothing and rapidly pulls arrows out of her quiver shooting them off as fast as possible at the man in their party who is also wielding a bow. She gets off five arrows rather quickly and they are headed right towards their target. She hears the man standing next to him say...

*WALL OF PROTECTION FROM ARROWS*

As soon as Dyne finishes his casting, five arrows that were fired from the half-elf ranger in Foresight impacted the green protective dome and fell harmlessly to the ground a few feet in front of Dyne and Lukrut. Lukrut didn't miss the opening that this gave him for a counter-attack on his ranged adversary.

*MANYSHOT*

Lukrut says as soon as the arrows hit the ground. He reaches into his quiver and knocks three arrows at once. As soon as he let's go of the string and the arrows leave the bow, each arrow makes two copies of itself and the three arrows quickly turned into a hail of nine headed straight for Imina.

Imina sees the arrows coming and tries to dive to the side to avoid them but they were traveling too fast and she only managed to avoid four of the nine coming at her. Two arrows impacted in each of her thighs, two in each shoulder, and the last one was lodged deep in her stomach. The pain was overwhelming and she went down in a heap. Still breathing but out of the fight unless she was healed.

Roberdyck saw this and was getting ready to heal her when he saw the arcane caster from Swords of Darkness prepare to interrupt him again. Arche had a better idea to interrupt her before she could do it to Roberdyck since she didn't know if she would be using magic arrow again.

*MAGIC ARROW*

Arche pours all the mana she can into her magic arrow and four of them leave her staff headed straight for Ninya. Ninya didn't have the chance to cast her spell before Arche had let her magic arrow's loose but when she saw the spell she had cast at her, a smirk appeared on her face. This did not go unnoticed by Arche who soon realized why.

Ninya didn't even attempt to evade or block the incoming magic arrows that Arche sent her way. She was more concerned with stopping their priest from healing the half-elf that Lukrut had taken out of the fight. She pointed her staff at the cleric, the magic arrow's cast by Arche, impacted a blue barrier a foot in front of Ninya and dissipated into nothingness right after Ninya had cast her spell.

*ACID ARROW*

Three long green arrows appeared in front of Ninya and fly towards Roberdyck almost faster than the eye can follow. Each arrow impacts him, one in his chest, and one in each arm. The acid burns through his robes and clothes. It doesn't dissolve the armor where it was hit but it certainly weakened it considerably along with dealing a good amount of damage to Roberdyck.

While Ninya, Roberdyck, and Arche were having a two on one caster battle, Dyne decided he should even those odds even if Ninya was doing a great job all by herself. No one seemed to be paying attention to him so he made Foresight's arcane caster pay the price for it as he called out his spell.

*CALL LIGHTNING*

A lightning bolt does not erupt from Dyne's fingertips like it would a wizard, mage, or sorcerer. Druids use the power of nature and the elements for their spells and Dyne's lightning bolt came straight down from above as if it was a gift from the clouds themselves.

Arche had felt the hairs on her entire body stand up and only jumped back out of pure instinct but it still wasn't enough to completely avoid the lightning bolt and its blast. Jumping back may have spared her the worst of the damage but it also helps to propel her even farther back when the lightning bolt struck the ground and the blast wave hit her.

Hekkeran and Peter were engaged in a one on one battle that was dead even as far as anyone could tell. Hekkeran had put all thoughts of holding back away and was currently attacking Peter with both of his weapons drawn.

He thought this would give him the edge against a younger and less experienced foe but Peter was proving to be a formidable enemy. Hekkeran wasn't even sure if he was going to win this fight. If one of his teammates joined in, Hekkeran would surely be done for. No matter the angle or force of his attack, Peter would either block it with his shield or parry it with his blade.

Hekkeran noticed the young man didn't seem to be getting tired in the least bit either. That did not bode well for him so he decided he needed to end this now before someone could intervene and turn the tide. He jumped back to give himself some space and started using his martial arts.

*LIMIT BREAKER* *DULL PAIN* *PHYSICAL BOOST* *TWIN BLADE STRIKE!*

When Hekkeran finishes using his abilities, he springs forward in a rush headed straight for Peter. He raises both his weapons at the same time and comes down with both of them directed at Peter's shoulders. Before he can make impact, Peter says...

*CASTLE*

A protective cocoon appears around Peter's shield and both of Hekkeran's swords harmlessly bounce off his shield. Hekkeran can't believe he blocked both strikes. That was a technique he created to get through the martial art Fortress since it could only block one attack. Somehow, this young man had learned a martial art that could block more than one attack at a time.

Peter saw the look of surprise on Hekkeran's face and knew this was the opening he had been waiting for. Hekkeran was currently off-balance as he did not think Peter could block the martial art he just used. He wasted no time taking advantage of the opening.

*DISARMING STRIKE*

Peter's sword quickly heads right towards Hekkeran's neck. Hekkeran is able to get both of his weapons up to block the strike but that is exactly what Peter was hoping would happen. This martial art wasn't called disarming strike for nothing. As soon as the weapons collided with each other, both of Hekkeran's swords were sent flying off to his right-hand side about 15 feet from where he was standing. Peter took advantage again, this time because his foe had no weapon.

*BONECRUSHER*

Peter activates another martial art. It is near impossible to perceive with the naked eye but Peter's weapons doubles in weight and the sharp blade dulls to a bludgeoning weapon. He swings it upwards and connects with the bottom of Hekkeran's chin, sending him off his feet and back towards the half-elf who was shot earlier.

It looked as though this would be the end of this fight with three of Foresight's members pretty much down for the count but that was not the case. It seems everyone had forgotten about the cleric once the acid arrow had hit him and he used the time to cast a healing spell on himself and a mass cure on Hekkeran and Imina.

They had all jumped back to give them some breathing room and the Swords of Darkness did not seem inclined to interrupt them at this moment. They all looked at each other. They were all damn near spent and had taken a good beating.

There was no way in this world, this party, the Swords of Darkness, were just platinum ranked adventurers. Their teamwork was almost flawless, their equipment was even better than Foresight's who were considered Mithril strength, and looking over at them, it didn't even look like they had used any energy yet.

The entire situation seemed futile and just bound to end in death for all of them. They looked at each other one more time as if they were saying goodbye in their own way, but three of them didn't plan on dying for nothing. Hekkeran pulled his pouch with all his money off his belt and handed it to Arche.

"Take this, use fly to get away, we will hold them off as long as we can." he says to Arche.

"I-I-I can't do that!" Arche says to him. She turns to the others to get their backing but notices both of them holding out their pouches of gold for her to take.

"We will hold them off, you make sure to get home." Roberdyck says to her.

"It's ok Arche, once you are far enough away, we will follow." Imina says and all of them know she is lying. There is no escape for them in this situation.

Their heartfelt moment was witnessed by all but one in particular was not inclined to give them enough time to allow one of them to escape. That is why no one heard Ninya cast her spell until Arche had jumped back some and looked over towards the Swords of Darkness.

*[MAXIMIZE MAGIC] - GRAND FIREBALL*

Ninya's maximized tier 4 spell was headed straight for the center of the three who had offered up their gold for Arche. The Fireball was traveling too fast for any of them to dodge and Arche could sense the magical power behind that blast and it was sure to kill all three of them without a doubt. She closed her eyes and tried to justify their deaths in her mind.

Before she could cast fly, she opened her eyes and saw a young girl appear directly between her three team members and the Fireball that was currently headed towards them. The girl held her right hand up and said...

*SPELL ABSORBTION*

Ainz was up in the VIP box with Albedo and he was thoroughly enjoying the show. He did not doubt that the Swords of Darkness were already at the level the guild would consider them Adamantite strength. He felt a little bad at making them hold back and rank up slowly but he didn't want to draw too much attention to them. He could even see Albedo was pleased with the display that the Swords of Darkness were putting on.

When he saw them all jump back and regroup, he was excited for round 2. Although, it looked like Foresight was almost spent and he could tell that the Swords of Darkness could do this for hours if need be.

As he listened to Foresight give over their gold and tell their comrade to run while they held them off, it took him back to his days in Yggdrasil with the other members of Ainz Ooal Gown. He was contemplating letting the girl live but it seemed Ninya had other ideas as he saw her release her most powerful spell. She even went as far as to maximize it so none of the members of Foresight it would hit would survive it.

The sudden appearance of Aureole in the path of the Fireball did startle Ainz a bit. He wasn't worried about her dying or even taking damage from the Fireball. A tier 4 spell would do absolutely nothing to Aureole. When she absorbed the spell, he felt a good deal of pride knowing she was utilizing her spells well and adapting quickly to a situation she threw herself in. He wasn't expecting what came out of her mouth though.

"Father, may I have a moment. I have a proposal." Aureole says up to the box.

Everyone in the arena is frozen in place not moving a muscle. Ainz jumps from the box and spreads his wings just before hitting the ground so he takes no damage from the fall. Albedo is right behind him. As he approaches Aureole, he waves his hand in front of himself and casts a spell. No one can tell because it is silent and for another reason...

*[SILENT] - TIME STOP*

Ainz cast time stop so he can have a conversation with Aureole without being interrupted. Albedo and Aura both have time stop countermeasures in their gear so they can hear everything that is said and move around freely unlike Foresight and Swords of Darkness who are just frozen like statues in place.

"That was a surprise entrance, Aureole. What proposal do you have that you had to interrupt the match and prevent the death of those three invaders?" Ainz asks her.

"I wish for you to allow me to take the arcane caster known as Arche as my apprentice father." Aureole tells him

"Why would you want her as an apprentice. I'll admit that Fluder said she might become as powerful as him one day if given the right guidance but is she really worth your time Aureole?" Ainz says to her

"I believe she is father, and I am interested in her for more than just her ability to detect a person magical potential as Fluder can. She has another talent called Magical Variance. That is the reason I wish for her to be my apprentice. Well, me and Rubedo's if you would allow it. I believe she will far surpass Fluder if I can guide her training." she tells Ainz

"What makes this talent so special you would want yourself and Rubedo to teach her?" Albedo asks this time, now curious why Aureole would want to save this girl.

"Magical Variance would allow her to learn divine spells along with arcane ones and I believe Rubedo would be able to teach her to be a Mystic Theurge and Arch Hierophant if she lives long enough to become that powerful." Aureole tells Albedo and Ainz.

"Wouldn't it be a bad idea to teach someone to be that powerful without assurances of their loyalties to Nazarick? I understand she couldn't get powerful enough to destroy us but she could possibly get powerful enough to do some damage to Nazarick." Ainz says to Aureole.

"I believe it will be easy to secure her loyalty father. Her last thoughts before she was about to cast fly and I interrupted make me think she will be loyal even if her friends are killed for her to survive. I have been using detect thoughts as you asked of me and she was the only one I found who might be worth saving." Aureole says

"What did she think and what makes it worth saving her?" Ainz asks

"Her last thought before my interruption was: "I'll do anything to get home and save my sisters. Even letting all my party members sacrifice themselves for me to getaway." That is what she was thinking before I appeared. Also, when you asked the question about why everyone was doing this mission, she was the only one who wasn't doing it for greed. She indeed needs the money, but it is to save her sisters from her parents. She intends to use the money to pay off her parent's debt, take her sisters away from them, and start a new life somewhere far away from them where her parents can't possibly use them for some scheme to keep them either rich or in power." Aureole explains to them

"Why would her parents use her sisters like that?" Albedo asks. She might have just found out she was going to be a mother, but she couldn't imagine doing anything but loving her children.

"The Bloody Emperor revoked their noble status but they still live like nobles even though they have no money coming in. Arche is the only one paying off the debt and without her there to do it, I believe it is only a matter of time before they sell their daughters to keep up their lifestyle, mother." Aureole tells Albedo.

The last bit of that information was more to sway her father than Albedo. Ainz had a particular hatred for slavery and she thought mentioning that these little girls would probably be sold into slavery in the near future if Arche wasn't there to take them away from their parents might get him to say yes.

And yes, she had called Albedo her mother in front of Ainz. When the stopped by the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary to tell her Albedo was pregnant that is when she decided it was the right thing to call Albedo. Albedo and her mother had never had a problem with her calling Albedo that from the start but it didn't seem to fit at the time.

Now that she was going to give Aureole brothers and/or sisters, it felt like the right thing to do and none of her parents minded so she kept it up. It would get a little confusing when Taylar and Albedo were both around but they would surely think of something to make it less confusing.

"Very well, if you can convince her to join us and assure me her loyalty, I will allow you to take her on as your apprentice." Ainz tells Aureole

"Thank you, father!" Aureole says and gives Ainz a big hug and smile.

"Well, you have to convince her first. I'll end the time stop when you are ready Aureole." he tells her

Aureole turns around and faces Arche. She is only a few feet away and it is sure to look funny when the time stop ends. Ainz and Albedo will be about 100 feet closer in what would seem like an instant and Aureole would have moved about 30 feet to the right from where she was standing before.

Ainz snaps his fingers and the time stop ends. As expected, the other people in the arena are looking around dumbfounded. The Swords of Darkness recover quickly but Aureole starts talking to Arche before Foresight can figure out what just happened.

"Were your last thoughts before I interrupted true?" Aureole asks the still-recovering Arche.

"M-My last thoughts?" Arche asks

"Yes." that was all Aureole gave her as a response.

Arche thinks back to right before this beautiful young girl about her age had interrupted their match and easily absorbed that fireball that was headed to end her teammates. She realized quickly what the girl was asking. Would she really trade her team members to make it home to her sisters and get them out of their parent's grasp? The answer came quicker than it probably should have.

"Yes they were." she says to Aureole.

"So if I were to get my father to spare you and save your sisters. You would agree to become my apprentice and serve here in Nazarick until such a time as you are released or die in service to the rulers of Nazarick?" Aureole asks

"I would." Arche answers

"Are you sure you are willing to pay the price?" Aureole asks one more time.

Not only is she making sure the girl is positive, but she is also reading her thoughts to see what she is truly thinking. Arche's thoughts as she looks at her teammates told her everything she needed to know.

'I'm sorry guys. I have to do this for my sisters.' she thinks as Aureole asks her.

Before she can answer out loud. Hekkeran has a question of his own for Aureole and Arche.

"What price?" he asks. Aureole simply turns to him and says...

"Greater love hath no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends, so it was written in the Gospel of Mark." she says as if that explained everything to them. Now, it was time for Arche to respond but Imina cut in before she could.

"Do whatever you have to, to survive Arche. Don't make our deaths meaningless." she tells her friend.

"Yes, I am sure master." Arche adds the master for good measure so Aureole knows she is serious. After Imina's words, Arche had no more reservations.

"Very well..." Aureole snaps her fingers and a parchment and quill appear in front of her. They float over towards Arche and she gives her the instructions. "grab the quill and sign your name at the bottom where the X is. Don't mind the little prick you will feel when you grab the quill. It is just getting enough blood from you so you can sign the agreement." Aureole explains to her.

Arche grabs the quill and sure enough, she feels a little stab of pain in her thumb as she wraps her fingers around the quill. She looks down at the parchment and gives one last look at her friends before signing her name. It almost felt like selling her soul to the devil but she would do it 100 times out of a 100 if it meant saving her little sisters.

"The contract is signed, and now, the entry fee." Aureole says and snaps her fingers again.

The Grand Fireball she had absorbed reappeared exactly where she absorbed it at and just a second later, impacted Hekkeran right in the chest engulfing him, Roberdyck, and Imina in the fire. Their screams only lasted a second before their charred remains hit the arena floor.

"Aureole, Arche is your responsibility now. You need to find her a place to stay, set her training, and see about bringing her sisters here. After a time, you may see about her living in Carne but for now, I want her in Nazarick." Ainz tells his daughter.

"I will handle it, father. Thank you. I will show you she was worth the risk." Aureole says and gives him a little bow.

"We shall see, baby girl. Eight Edge Assassins, see the bodies are taken where they need to." Ainz says to what seems like no one but Aureole and Albedo can see them just as well as Ainz can. After he gives those orders, he makes his way over to the Swords of Darkness.

"Ninya, that was a very passionate speech you gave at the start. I am impressed. With all of you really, that was very good teamwork. I can tell all of your training has paid off. I am confident in saying that you now possess the strength that the adventurers guild would consider Adamantite rank and I look forward to seeing all of you receive your adamantite plates in the future." he tells them

"Thank you, Lord Ainz. I will work as hard as I can to repay you, Lady Taylar, Lady Albedo, and all of Nazarick for what you have done for me and my sister!" Ninya states with the utmost truth and devotion. The rest of the Swords of Darkness give a bow but he can see smiles on their lips as they do it, happily accepting the praise of their current strength.

Well, at least that was one group Ainz didn't have to worry about betraying them for some reason. He left the arena with a smile on his face and his Demon Queen on his arm. Very much looking forward to what the next few months were going to bring.

---

And that is Chapter 17! Yep, I saved another person who died in canon... if that bothers you... too fucking bad lol... I did add a four person OC worker team to also die so its a balancing act lol... next chapter will be called... Reflections Before Declarations of War! or something along those lines... Until then!

Super-Tier Spells:

Contingent Resurrection: Super-Tier spell that will instantaneously raise the target of the spell with the Tier 9 spell True Resurrection the moment the target dies. Lasts for one year after being cast on target or until the spell is triggered.

Vengeful Gaze of God: Super-Tier spell that calls down the wrath of God on your foes. All caught in the area of effect take divine retribution damage. Targets get no save and anyone caught in the area of effect take full damage. Anyone killed by this spell can only be brought back to life by the Super-Tier Spell, Wish Upon A Star